Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James was caught on camera "smirking" broadly as Donald Trump Jr. prepared to testify on behalf of the defense in the Trump civil fraud trial on Monday, Fox News reported.

James has been a near-constant presence in the Manhattan courtroom over the past month as she attempts to financially cripple and destroy former President Donald Trump's business empire with a $250 million civil fraud lawsuit -- something she specifically campaigned for office on doing.

The attorney general has accused Trump, his two adult sons, and the Trump Organization of unlawfully inflating and manipulating claimed asset values and Trump's own reported net worth in financial statements in order to obtain better terms for bank loans and insurance coverage.

James caught on camera

The ongoing civil fraud trial itself has not been televised but pool reporters with cameras have been let in the courtroom ahead of the proceedings, which led to the capture of a rather stark and revelatory moment on Monday, according to Newsweek.

As Don Jr. prepared to take the stand in his father's defense, CNN aired footage that showed him looking serious and intent, which was immediately juxtaposed with AG James seated just a few rows back "smirking" and clearly enjoying herself.

What do you notice about AG Tish James in this video? pic.twitter.com/sMq4KjP0qt

— Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) November 13, 2023

Newsweek noted that AG James' office declined to respond to a request for comment about her "facial expressions and demeanor" that were caught on camera by a pool reporter.

That didn't stop social media users from providing plenty of commentary on the footage, however, both in support of and in opposition to the attorney general who vowed to target and persecute the former president and his eponymous family business while running for office.

Trump lambasted James for "smirking all day long" in the courtroom

Former President Trump appears to have also noticed the arrogant demeanor and facial expressions of the Democratic prosecutor who is seeking to financially ruin him and his family, which he addressed in a Tuesday morning post to social media, according to The Hill.

"Racist A.G. Letitia James is smirking all day long from her seat in Court, as New York continues to set records in murder and other violent crimes, and businesses flee to other States," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

He went on to ostensibly quote -- with his own interjections added -- law professor Jonathan Turley's critiques of the civil fraud case and the attorney general herself.

"You have a (Trump Hating!) Attorney General who’s seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages when not a single penny was lost by these banks, and that’s part of this (Unconstitutional!) Law … You can see from the reaction of A.G. James, every morning from that seat, that she is enjoying this, enjoying it a bit too much," Trump said in the post.

Smiling AG versus the scowling former president

Newsweek observed that AG James has been previously caught by the camera or witnessed by courtroom observers smiling and even laughing during the proceedings, as well as running to address the waiting reporters with cameras outside the courtroom to share her thoughts on what was happening.

Former President Trump, likewise, has also been caught on camera scowling and glaring as he, his adult children, and the organization he spent decades developing and expanding are put through the ringer and now face an existential threat from a highly partisan prosecutor with a personal vendetta against him, to say nothing of an apparently partisan judge and court staff that decided the case against him before the trial even started.