Trump expected to attend New York fraud trial again Thursday as testimony nears an end

abcnews.go.com:

Former President Donald Trump is expected to return to his New York civil business fraud trial again

NEW YORK — He's been a frustrated observer, a confrontational witness and a heated commentator outside the courtroom door. Now former President Donald Trump is poised to return to his civil business fraud trial again, first to watch and then to serve as star witness for his own defense.

With testimony winding down after more than two months, court officials and Trump's attorneys and aides have indicated that the Republican 2024 presidential front-runner is expected to show up voluntarily as a spectator Thursday, when his legal team is calling an accounting professor to testify about some financial topics important to the case.

Then Trump himself is scheduled to take the stand Monday, for a second time.

Even while campaigning to reclaim the presidency and fighting four criminal cases, Trump is devoting a lot of attention to the New York lawsuit. The case is putting his net worth on trial, scrutinizing the real estate empire that first built his reputation, and threatening to block him from doing business in his native state.

New York Attorney General Letitia James's suit accuses Trump, his company and some executives of misleading banks and insurers by giving them financial statements full of inflated values for such signature assets as his Trump Tower penthouse and Mar-a-Lago, the Florida club where he now lives. The statements were provided to help secure deals — including loans at attractive interest rates available to hyperwealthy people — and some loans required updated statements each year.

Trump denies any wrongdoing, and he posits that the statements' numbers actually fell short of his wealth. He has downplayed