Trump’s New York civil fraud trial rolls on after an appeals judge declines to halt it
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial will roll ahead next week after the former president lost a bid Friday to halt the proceedings while he fights a pretrial ruling that could strip him of Trump Tower and other marquee properties.
An appeals court judge rebuffed Trump’s push to pause the New York trial, but agreed to leave him in control of his holdings for now. The decision, after an emergency hearing Friday afternoon, came five days into the closely watched trial.
Trump went to the courthouse for the first three days of the trial in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit, observing testimony — and fulminating to TV cameras outside about a case he deemed “a witch hunt and a disgrace.”
Trump’s lawyers had asked the state’s intermediate appellate court to suspend the trial and prevent Judge Arthur Engoron from enforcing a ruling he made last week. Engoron’s decision revoked the Republican presidential frontrunner’s business licenses and puts a court-appointed receiver in charge of his companies.
“This is a massive error. It is irreparable,” Trump lawyer Christopher Kise told the appellate judge, Associate Justice Peter H. Moulton. Kise argued that the ruling will make defendants in other cases fear that their companies and properties will be seized without recourse.
“We’re not seeking a delay. We’re seeking a fair trial,” Kise said.
Trump’s lawyers said Engoron’s ruling could harm not only the ex-president and other defendants but as many as 1,000 employees.
State Deputy Solicitor General Judy Vale told the appeals judge that James’ office had already offered to keep the business licenses as-is until after the trial.
Kise acknowledged the offer, but said he was worried Engoron wouldn’t allow it.
“We could have resolved some of this, and we’re still happy to do so,” Vale said, calling the defense arguments for a delay “completely meritless.”
“No one thinks the lights will go off at 40 Wall Street tomorrow, that’s not what’s happening,” Vale said.
Mounting the trial has been “an enormous endeavor,” Vale said, entailing extensive court planning, security resources for Trump’s attendance and special arrangements for press and public access.
In a statement, Kise said that he was pleased the appeals court “upheld New York law and put a halt to any cancellation of business certificates, receivers or dissolution.”
“The trial court’s attempt to reach issues, entities and assets beyond the scope of this case has been suspended,” Kise said.
James countered that Trump’s side was “falsely claiming victory” for a resolution that her office had proposed and that the big takeaway was that the trial goes on as scheduled.
“Once again, Donald Trump’s attempts to delay this trial have been rejected,” James said in a statement. “Yet another court denied his efforts to evade justice for his years of fraud.”
The appellate court last week rejected the defense’s last-minute effort to delay the trial just days before it began. On Thursday, Trump’s lawyers dropped a lawsuit they filed against Engoron as part of that challenge.
