Judge Denies Claims of Bias in Trump’s Civil Fraud Case

Paresh Jadhav

9 months ago

After 11 weeks of intense legal wrangling, Donald Trump’s empire will rest with Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron who will decide if former President and others committed fraud in a civil suit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump’s lawyers want a mistrial declared, alleging that Judge Engoron and his law clerk have shown bias against their client through comments posted by them on social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter.

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Judge Responds to Accusation of Bias in Civil Case

New York A judge in the civil fraud suit filed against former President Donald Trump and his companies has rejected their lawyers’ request for a mistrial, ruling against their claims that Justice Arthur Engoron’s Manhattan court is biased against their client. Trump’s attorneys accused Engoron of harboring “tangible and overwhelming bias.” They cited his rulings against their client as evidence, his chief law clerk’s prominent role in it and her political donations, along with what appeared to be improper conduct in sharing articles about it on his high school alumni newsletter.

Judge, who is a Democrat, also denied allegations that court staff had improperly assisted witnesses for testimony in this case. He will rule on remaining claims filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James as well as penalties imposed upon Trump and his company at their trial that begins October 2.

Judge Denies Accusation of Bias in Civil Case

On Friday, the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial rejected a motion alleging bias from former president’s attorneys, dismissing their contentions that proceedings have become poisoned by his rulings and prominent role in the proceedings as well as communications with his chief law clerk – who made political donations exceeding campaign contribution limits to organizations supporting New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Judges in the civil lawsuit accuse Donald Trump and two of his sons of defrauding banks, insurers, and others by inflating the values of his trophy properties such as Mar-A-Lago and Trump Tower penthouse apartment. They want a fine of $250 million or higher.

Trump lawyers have frequently complained about the judge during the trial, which began Oct. 2, and have twice violated a gag order by posting derogatory social media comments about her clerk on their official accounts. For each violation they were fined $15,000 each time.

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After an intense day of heated exchanges, Donald Trump’s attorneys filed for a mistrial in New York’s civil fraud case against them. Their arguments included that Judge Arthur Engoron exhibited “tangible and overwhelming bias”, including rulings against their client as well as being the prominent law clerk for Judge Engoron.

Attorneys representing both sides alleged that Engoron had allowed his clerk, who typically sits beside her during pretrial hearings and questions counsel for both sides, to have an unprecedented level of “input into these proceedings,” giving the appearance that she is co-judging the case. They further asserted that her de facto co-judgeship violates judicial ethics.

Engoron denied the motion, noting that the defendants had claimed he displayed bias when making rulings in this case. According to Engoron, evidence presented during trial – such as allegations that former President Clinton and his family members overinflated property values to banks and insurers- proved they engaged in fraudulent conduct.

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Judge Arthur Engoron became increasingly furious after hearing Christopher Kise air his client’s grievances during her testimony, prompting Engoron to remind Kise that it wasn’t a political rally but rather a courtroom proceeding. “This is no political rally; this is a courtroom,” Engoron asserted.

Legal representatives for former President Jimmy Carter have attempted to cast the civil fraud case as a politically-driven witch hunt by characterizing New York Attorney General Letitia James and Engoron as corrupt and dishonest public officials, however Engoron denies these claims.

On Friday, Engoron denied a motion filed by Donald Trump’s legal team citing allegations of political bias in his proceedings. This claim included rulings against former president, political donations by law clerk and any appearance of impropriety such as publishing articles about trial in high school alumni newsletter he edits – allegations Engoron described as being without merit and thus dismissing them from consideration for mistrial. At stake is whether Trump and family can defraud lenders and insurers into inflating property values such as his Manhattan penthouse.