Donald Trump arrived for closing arguments in his New York civil fraud trial after the judge who moved to prevent the former president from delivering his own closing statements received a "bomb threat".
The threat was on Judge Arthur Engoron’s home on Long Island, according to court officials.
But the case over allegations that Mr Trump exaggerated his wealth on financial statements he provided to banks, insurance companies and others, was not delayed despite the report.
Mr Trump, the leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination, accused the judge in a social media post on Wednesday night of working closely with the New York attorney general "to screw me."
"At this moment the judge is not letting me make the summation because I’ll bring up things he doesn’t want to hear," Trump said as he walked into the courtroom, characterizing the decision as “political interference."
"This is a case that never should have been brought," he said.
Mr Trump said he was still hoping he would be allowed to speak, but his lawyer did not raise the issue before launching into his own closing argument on Thursday.
Hours before the trial’s final day was set to begin, Nassau County police said they responded to a threat at the judge's home. Nothing suspicious was found at the location, officials said.
The false report came days after a fake emergency call reporting a shooting at the home of the judge overseeing Trump’s Capitol attack criminal case in Washington, DC.
The two incidents follow a spate of similar false reports at the homes of public officials in recent days. Asking the bench a few minutes late, Judge Engoron made no mention of the incident at his home.
On Wednesday, Judge Engoron had rejected an unusual plan by Mr Trump to deliver his own closing remarks in the courtroom, in addition to summations from his legal team, after lawyers for the former president would not agree to the judge’s demand that he stick to "relevant matters."
That left the last words to the lawyers in court.
"Forty-four days of trial - not one witness came into this courtroom, your honour, and said there was fraud," Mr Trump's lawyer Christopher Kise said.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, wants the judge to impose $370 million in penalties. Mr Trump says he did nothing wrong, didn't lie about his fortune and is the victim of political persecution.
The former president had hoped to make that argument personally, but the judge initially open to the idea said no after a Trump lawyer missed a deadline for agreeing to ground rules.
Among them, Judge Engoron warned that Mr Trump couldn't use his closing remarks to "deliver a campaign speech" or use the opportunity to impugn the judge and his staff.
“This entire case is a manufactured claim to pursue a political agenda,” Mr Kise said in his closing argument. "It has been press releases and posturing but no evidence."
Lawyers from Ms James' office will deliver their closing argument Thursday afternoon.
Ms James sued Trump in 2022 under a state law that gives the state attorney general broad power to investigate allegations of persistent fraud in business dealings.
Judge Engoron decided some of the key issues before testimony began.
In a pretrial ruling, he found that Mr Trump had committed years of fraud by lying about his riches on financial statements with tricks like claiming his Trump Tower penthouse was nearly three times its actual size, or valuing his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida at more than $612 million based on the idea that the property could be developed for residential use, when he had signed an agreement surrendering rights to develop it for any uses but a club.
The trial involves six undecided claims, including allegations of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records.
Trump's company and two of his sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, are also defendants. Eric Trump was also in court for closing arguments.
Besides monetary damages, Ms James wants Mr Trump and his co-defendants barred from doing business in New York.
State lawyers say that by making himself seem richer, Mr Trump qualified for better loan terms from banks, saving him at least $168 million.
