Judge blasts Trump Org attorneys for delaying tactics
Years of delaying tactics and games by the Trump Organization finally boiled over in a court in New York on Tuesday, when a state judge let loose on the company and set a firm deadline for the potential demise of Donald Trump’s family business.
The Trump Organization is now scheduled to face trial on October 2, 2023 on charges of routinely falsifying real estate values, evading taxes and tricking banks.
Judge Arthur F. Engoron struck a stern and annoyed tone at the former US President’s real estate company, setting deadlines that ensure the company goes to trial long before its founder gets another chance in the White House.
Engoron showed no patience for the Trump Organization’s attempt to slow a three-year attempt to hold the company accountable for patently fake property valuations.
“I think it was Yogi Berra who said, ‘It’s deja vu again,'” Engoron said. “I decided on all these issues. It seems to me that the facts are the same. The laws are the same. The parties are the same. I don’t know why I and my staff – let alone the Attorney General’s staff – need to do this all over again. It’s like jumping through the same hoops.”
The Trump Organization, former President Donald Trump and three of his descendants he made leaders there – Don Jr., Ivanka and Eric – are facing a $250 million lawsuit from New York’s top law enforcement official. Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit, filed in September, portrayed the real estate company as a longstanding criminal operation that routinely forged documents by inflating property values to secure better bank loans and maximize tax write-offs on donated land.
The case’s roadmap was decided at Tuesday’s court hearing, as years of tension finally spilled over into the courtroom. From the start, the court hearing quickly became an aggressive battle between the Trump family lawyers and the judge. Alina Habba, who represents the former president and his company, attacked the investigation and even the judge as completely unreasonable.
She resisted, as the case is now progressing so quickly, and personally nudged the judge. “We will process this fully as is our right,” she warned. “It sounds like we always find ourselves in a predetermined situation where you’re going to rule against us. In all honesty, it’s unconstitutional. It’s inappropriate.”
Engoron then criticized that the company’s response to the lawsuit was to simply repeat the same story: that the AG’s office was engaged in a political witch hunt.
“You can’t keep making the same arguments after you’ve already lost,” he said. In one particularly scathing exchange, Engoron tried to persuade Trump attorneys to focus on legal arguments. “I just think you’re wasting time and resources,” he said. Habba countered that this was “the first time you’ve said something I agree with.”
Meanwhile, the attorney general’s office maintained there was no need to slow it down, noting that the vast majority of the million or so pieces of evidence documents came from the Trump Organization itself.
Kevin Wallace, an assistant attorney general, noted that the investigation only lasted so long because the company repeatedly refused to release documents and did not make the Trumps available for testimony until the judge repeatedly intervened.
“The fact that it’s taking us a while to get through that doesn’t mean we have a three-year process,” he said, adding that the slowdown in the case is now helping Trump’s presidential ambitions. “It’s all just their goal to delay, delay, delay and try to push this back to 2024. They try to last as long as possible.”
Trump has already accused this investigation of being nothing more than political prosecution by a Democratic attorney general, and he often slanders James when he speaks to his devout MAGA supporters at his rallies. This accusation is usually paired with disproved claims about the 2020 election he lost and full-bodied defenses of his attempts to remain in power.
The Trump Org’s “fired” Money Man actually still has his job In court, Wallace criticized the way the Trumps’ attorneys have not yet addressed the actual substance of the investigation. “Everything is an affront. ‘It’s wrong. It’s unfair. It’s unconstitutional.’ This will be a very difficult case,” he told the judge. He also noted that the only reason these attorneys now feel overwhelmed is because Trump brought in new attorneys to do it a year ago.
“The fact that he decided to bring in a new attorney at the end of the case — that’s a strategic decision, but something he has to live with,” Wallace added.
Clifford S. Robert, a defense attorney for Don Jr. and Eric Trump, acknowledged that almost all of the documents in question came from the company. But he still insisted they need more time, claiming the current speed is “taking away from our client’s ability to mount a defence”. But once again Engoron showed no patience.“It shouldn’t take that long. The Attorney General has been investigating for three years…this case is mostly about the defendant’s documents, which they clearly have,” he said.
Curiously, the Trumps’ lawyers argued that there was no rush as the company is now overseen by a retired federal judge who is tasked with making sure the company stops falsifying financial documents and assets in anticipation of the quarter billion dollars -Not to postpone the lawsuit.
However, the Trumps’ attorneys have not mentioned that they are currently trying to get rid of this court-appointed monitor in the state’s appeals court.
Both sides also disagreed on another important issue: whether this fight will end in a bench trial or a jury trial. The Trumps’ lawyers said they prefer a jury trial that would save them from facing the wrath of a judge who has already punished them for ignoring subpoenas, refusing to back down from the case and im Appeal process continues to win.
“We would prefer a jury trial. Honestly, that would allay a lot of our concerns about impartiality,” Habba said, punching Engoron again.
The court hearing ended with the judge refusing to budge and sticking with a trial in 2023. That means the company could face a devastating fine, be forced to shut down operations in New York and be prevented from raising money in the financial capital of the world amid Trump’s political comeback – the same man, who began his political career with the success of this company
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Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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Now imagine if Trump were POTUS again and knew he could get away with murder.
