The judge presiding over New York’s civil business fraud case against Donald Trump had a “testy exchange” with one of the ex-president’s attorneys, this time over the lawyer’s demand he be allowed to call as a witness the monitor overseeing Trump’s real estate holdings and who may oversee the disgorgment of some of his assets.

Judge Arthur Engoron, who already was forced to impose a gag order on Donald Trump and subsequently the lawyers for the ex-president, criticized attorney Chris Kise on Monday afternoon.

Last year Judge Engoron had appointed former U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones as a monitor for the Trump Organization.

“The Trump family’s lawyer Clifford Robert asked to call her to the witness stand on Monday, a request that Engoron promptly denied,” The Messenger reports. “’Besides being untimely and inappropriate, Judge Jones and her staff are arms of the court,’ Engoron said in a denial from the bench, adding that having her also testify would invite a conflict of interest.”

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Trump’s lawyers appear to want to use Jones to rebut Judge Engoron’s pre-trial ruling that Trump is liable for fraud.

Trump Hotels’s chief accounting officer Mark Hawthorn testified that he had had “ongoing conversations” with Jones.

“There were concerns they highlighted that required more and we responded diligently and adequately, but I would say no one from the team communicated to us [that] they uncovered any fraud or irregularities,” Hawthorn said.

The Messenger’s Adam Klasfeld reported on Monday, Trump attorney Chris Kise told the judge, “They’re the only ones in the courtroom jumping up and down claiming there’s fraud. The bank isn’t. The monitor isn’t.”

“Every time you talk, it’s a campaign speech,” Judge Engoron responded.

A little before 7:30 AM on Monday Fox Business News host Maria Bartiromo demanded to know “who’s running the show here?” and asked if President Joe Biden knows “what’s going on or is he being directed by President Obama?”

There is no credible reporting that President Barack Obama is directing President Joe Biden on running the country, nor is there any credible reporting that President Biden needs him to.

But less than 45 minutes after Bartiromo’s baseless attack on President Biden, Donald Trump served up what appeared to be a response to news reports questioning his own cognitive abilities – and suggested he thinks Obama is “having a very big influence” in running the country.

MSNBC’s Brian Tyler Cohen, in a six-minute opinion video in late September, detailed some of Trump’s errors, including suggesting he beat Barack Obama in 2016 and World War II had not happened yet.

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Earlier this month, Forbes reported Trump recently has “mixed up” Biden with Obama at least seven times.

Last month, the Biden campaign posted one of Trump’s “flubs,” where he mixed up Biden and Obama.

Trump once again confuses who is currently President, forcing Kilmeade to correct him pic.twitter.com/q3Km6MEhF1

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) October 12, 2023

Mediate reported that in a lengthier version of the audio, “Kilmeade corrects Trump, who then pretends he meant to say ‘Obama’ all along — forcing Kilmeade to correct him again.”

Also last month, Trump’s current top 2024 opponent, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, slammed Trump for apparent errors and confusion.

The mainstream media is taking notice of Trump’s flubs and misstatements as well, and not just of the ex-president mixing up his predecessor and his successor.

“Mr. Trump has had a string of unforced gaffes, garble and general disjointedness that go beyond his usual discursive nature, and that his Republican rivals are pointing to as signs of his declining performance,” The New York Times reported late last month. “In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has also told supporters not to vote, and claimed to have defeated President Barack Obama in an election. He has praised the collective intellect of an Iranian-backed militant group that has long been an enemy of both Israel and the United States, and repeatedly mispronounced the name of the armed group that rules Gaza.”

“In recent speeches,” The Washington Post reported two weeks ago, “Trump has incorrectly described Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as the leader of Turkey and falsely suggested Hungary shares a border with Russia. He has repeatedly referred to the Obama administration when he meant the Biden administration, and at one point he inaccurately suggested he’d beaten Obama — rather than Hillary Clinton — in the 2016 election.”

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But now, Trump is offering what he claims is his intentional reason for appearing to mix up Obama and Biden.

Sarcasm.

And his suggestion that, like Bartiromo asked, he alleges former President Obama is really in charge.

“Whenever I sarcastically insert the name Obama for Biden as an indication that others may actually be having a very big influence in running our Country, Ron DeSanctimonious and his failing campaign apparatus, together with the Democrat’s Radical Left ‘Disinformation Machine,’ go wild saying that ‘Trump doesn’t know the name of our President, (CROOKED!) Joe Biden. He must be cognitively impaired,’ ” Trump wrote Monday on his Truth Social account.

He insisted, “I know both names very well, never mix them up, and know that they are destroying our Country.”

Trump then claimed he “just took a cognitive test as part of my Physical Exam, and ACED it.”

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Watch the voice above or at this link.

Just four years ago, heading in to the 2020 presidential election, the Republican National Committee reported it had $61 million on hand. Now, facing what is expected to be the most expensive presidential election ever, the RNC has just $9.1 million in cash, while the Democratic National Committee reports nearly twice that much: $17.7 million.

“Donors have not cut as many large checks to the RNC in recent years, and the party’s small-dollar program has also suffered,” The Washington Post reports, adding, “finances are increasingly worrisome to party members, advisers to former president Donald Trump, and other operatives.”

Calling it a “revenue problem,” Tennessee RNC member Oscar Brock told the Post the party is “going through the same efforts we always go through to raise money: the same donor meetings, retreats, digital advertising, direct mail. But the return is much lower this year.”

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“The staff has managed to tighten down on expenses to keep the party from going into the red,” Brock added. The Post confirms that cost cutting, reporting: “The party cut certain expenditures this year after projected money did not come in, according to people familiar with the decisions.”

Numerous problems appear to be impacting the RNC’s fundraising. Some don’t want to give to the RNC, concerned those funds could be used to support Donald Trump, and some are frustrated with Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel.

Donald Trump “has been asking people what they think of her, which is often an ominous sign that someone is losing their standing with him.”

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One RNC committee member said the battle for RNC chair earlier this year hurt the party.

“The damage from that chair election goes far beyond the drop in donations. Our base was demoralized,” said Virginia RNC member Patti Lyman.

McDaniel is also getting attacked by some conservative organizations and at least one 2024 presidential candidate over her loyalty to Trump, and what some say is an RNC unprepared for the 2024 election, while Trump is angered McDaniel is remaining “neutral.”