Trump attacks ’crooked’ judge and political ’witch hunt’ after fraud ruling

Donald Trump has been fined almost $355 million (£281m) and effectively banned from serving as a director of his own company for three years, for fraudulently overinflating his net worth to dupe lenders. In a damning ruling on Friday, Judge Arthur Engoron, who has been overseeing Mr Trump’s civil fraud trial, also barred the former US president’s adult sons from running the family firm for two years. A visibly defiant Mr Trump confirmed he would appeal the decision and angrily denounced Joe Biden while also blaming Russia, China and a “crooked New York state judge”. Speaking at Mar-a-Lago he said: “A crooked New York state judge just ruled that I have to pay a fine of $355 million for having built the perfect company. “This is Russia, this is China, this all comes from the DOJ, it all comes out of Biden. It’s a witch hunt against his political opponent the likes of which our country has never seen before. “You see it in third world countries, banana republics