Former President Donald Trump issued the following statement outside the New York Courthouse on Thursday regarding Judge Arthur Engoron's decision in his civil fraud trial denying him a closing statement and family leave regarding the death of Melania Trump's mother. 

BREAKING.🚨

Donald Trump Addresses Judge Denying Him Closing Statement, Refusing Leave Over Death in Family

"Witch hunt. It's election interference at the highest level. It's a disgrace. It's in coordination with the White House and Joe Biden because you can't win a campaign… pic.twitter.com/juucx4zAXj

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) January 11, 2024

"Witch hunt. It's election interference at the highest level. It's a disgrace. It's in coordination with the White House and Joe Biden because he can't win a campaign fairly. And we're going through it, but it is indeed a terrible witch hunt. 

"We're going to have a news conference a little bit later on. As you know, I want to speak, I want to make the summation. At this moment, the judge is not letting me make the summation because I'll bring up things that he doesn't want to hear. And it's a very unfair trial. Nobody's seen anything like this. I don't think they've ever seen anything like this.

"We have a situation where a statute was used that doesn't give me a jury. So I have no jury. I really have no rights. And nobody thinks it's constitutional — people, legal scholars are writing about it like it's something they've never seen before.

"So it's interference, it's political interference, and it's something that shouldn't be allowed. So I am hoping to speak and to help my lawyers reveal all of the defects of this case, which should have never been brought. Very, very strong financial statements. They thought it was the opposite. They had no idea because I'm a private company. Then they saw  — knocked their socks off. They couldn't believe it. But great financial statements, everything is good.

"We have a level of detail in our defense that nobody's ever had. This is a case that should have never been brought and it was brought and it's very unfair and it's very bad for New York state. Companies are fleeing. People are fleeing. The streets are crimeridden.

"And Letitia James, that's all she thinks about is 'Get Trump.' She's been dreaming about it for years and it's not the way a state should be run because this is a state that's been in big trouble and you have all the businesses fleeing, and you have the people fleeing — the people that pay taxes. People that don't pay taxes are coming in. So that's not what you want.

"So I want to thank you. We're going to have a news conference today. We don't know the time, we'll notify you, but sometime in the early afternoon at 40 Wall Street. So we'll give a news conference where we can actually speak and have a microphone here, because even that, they don't want us to have, they really don't want us to speak too much. So we'll see whether or not the judge allows me to speak. Perhaps he won't, but I certainly would like to."

This is a breaking news story and will be updated when new details become available.