City today.

A judge will now determine# whether the former president committed## fraud by inflating the value of his real# estate assets.

Mr. Trump and his attorneys## argue the case is politically motivated and# prosecutors have no evidence of wrongdoing.

William Brangham was in the courtroom# today, and he joins us now from New York.

So, William, this is a trial that began last# October, fair to say a fairly contentious one.## There have been fines and gag orders,# even a bomb threat against the judge,## I understand.

But, today, today was about# closing arguments from each side.

Mr. Trump,## as I understand, ended up doing his own# version of closing arguments.

What happened?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Yes, the# former president had been## barred by the judge from making a closin His lawyer basically opened the door, and the# former president just barged right through it## and said, as you were just describing, that# he's completely innocent, that these charges## are trumped-up, that they are bogus, that# this is a political witch-hunt against him.

He also said that it was -- that this was# an attorney general who's simply trying## to stop him from advancing politically.# And the thing that was so striking about## this is that we think of courtrooms,# no matter how adversarial they get,## that there's a deference# and a respect for the judge.

And here was the former president directly# attacking the judge to he had an agenda of his own, that he couldn't# listen to anything for longer than a minute.

And,## remember, this is the judge, not a jury, who# will decide the president's fate in this case,## just an incredibly striking moment to see today.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is incredible to see.

Remind us, William, about WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Right.

The case former president and his associates at the Trump# Organization engaged in a decades-long pattern## of inflating the assets of various real estate# properties and programs that they were running## here in the city, and that they were doing# so, so that banks would look at those assets,## see those inflated values, and give them bigger# loans and better rates than they would have.

The attorney general and her team have argued# that these -- quote, unquote -- "ill-gotten gains"## netted the Trump Organization about $250 million,# and that he needs to be punished for that.

AMNA NAWAZ: And what about from Mr. Trump's own# attorneys?

What have they argued in response?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: They have argued and spent# several hours today trying to rebut the examples.

The attorney general had given multiple examples.# Like, for instance, it was a Trump Park Avenue,## they valued a dozen apartments there as if# they weren't rent-stabilized, and that they## then inflated the value by tens of millions of# dollars, that there was a Trump Tower triplex## apartment that they valued -- said was 30,000# square feet, when it was only 11,000 square feet.

The Trump team said that those -- some# of those things were basically mistakes,## that they had no meaningful impact.

They# were arguing that, remember, Donald Trump## was a famously wealthy person.

Banks were# tripping over themselves to loan money to him,## so that the idea that he would need to make# inflated statements to get better loans,## they argued, just doesn't make sense on its face.

They say, as -- he was referred to by banks as a## whale of a client.

They argued the same# thing that that this was a political campaign by the# attorney general masquerading as a legal c AMNA NAWAZ: So, William, what happens# next?

When should we expect a ruling?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So the judge# has to rule on this case,## and he has said he will do# so by the The important thing to remember is, he has already# ruled on count one of this case.

He h Trump and his sons and some of their associates# are liable for fraud.

He now has to decide on## the penalties for that.

Not only is the attorney# general asking that Trump and his sons and their## associates be banned from doing real estate# business in New York, but she's also trying to## levy a $370 million fine, both of which would# be colossal blows for the Trump Organization.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, that is William Brangham# reporting for us live tonight from New York.

William, thank you.

Good to see you.