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| ©Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty |
Donald Trump's lawyers have filed a lawsuit accusing trial judge Arthur Engoron of repeatedly abusing his authority, potentially disrupting the New York attorney general's business fraud trial scheduled for next month. A state appeals court judge ordered an interim stay of the non-jury trial, scheduled to start Oct. 2, after Trump's lawyers filed a lawsuit accusing the trial judge, Arthur Engoron, of repeatedly abusing his authority. Justice David Friedman, a judge on the state's intermediate appellate court, granted an interim stay of the trial and ordered the full appeals court to consider the lawsuit on an expedited basis. The court indicated it would issue a decision the week of Sept. 25, meaning the trial could still start on schedule depending on how it rules.
Among the issues raised by Trump's lawyers were Engoron's terse refusal to grant their recent request for a three-week trial delay, which he ruled as "completely without merit," and lingering uncertainty about the trial's scope because he has yet to comply with a June appeals court's order that he determine which claims in the fraud lawsuit are barred by the statute of limitations.
Other proceedings in Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit against Trump and the Trump Organization will proceed as scheduled, including oral arguments slated for Sept. 22 on requests from James' office and Trump's lawyers that Engoron decides on some or all of the case before the trial starts.
The lawsuit against Engoron, filed under a provision of state law known as Article 78, is Trump's latest attack on judges presiding over his many legal cases. Trump's lawyers have asked the federal judge presiding over his election subversion case in Washington to recuse herself, saying U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan's past public statements about him and his connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol call into question whether she can be fair.
Trump has shown hostility for Engoron in the past, lashing out at him on social media as "vicious, biased, and mean" after a series of unfavourable rulings from the judge. James' office has asked Engoron to grant summary judgment in its favour on one of seven claims in her lawsuit — that Trump and his company committed fraud.
