Former President Donald Trump held nothing back as he lashed out at the judge overseeing New York’s civil lawsuit against him.
The case accuses Trump of engaging in business fraud. Last week, Justice Arthur Engoron issued a sweeping ruling in the case that has been viewed as a “corporate death penalty” for his business in New York.
As CNN noted, “Engoron canceled the Trump Organization’s business certification and ordered that a receiver be appointed to dissolve Trump’s properties” for allegedly inflating the value of his properties.
During a break from the trial on Monday, the former president emerged from the courtroom to vent his fury about the judge to reporters while his lawyers stood idly by looking like scared puppies.
“He’s a Democrat operative and he’s a disgrace to people that call themselves judges,” Trump said.
He continued, “And I hope my lawyers go in and I hope they fight him very hard. Because this guy’s getting away with murder. And his clerk should not be allowed to be in his ear on every single question. You take a look at what’s happening with her. She hates Trump more than he does.”
Watch the video below:
Trump: And he's a disgrace to people that call themselves judges. And his clerk should not be allowed to be in his ear on every single question. You take a look at what's happening with her. She hates trump more than he does pic.twitter.com/mNNkkEflTI
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 2, 2023
Trump went on, “This is a judge that should be disbarred. This is a judge that should be out of office. This is a judge that some people say could be charged criminally for what he’s doing. He’s interfering with an election.”
Conservative legal experts, such as National Review’s Andrew McCarthy, have taken issue with the trial and argued it is an egregious abuse as the law the trial is based on does not require there to be proof of fraudulent intent or harm.
And, frankly, such a statute seems hard to wrap one’s head around: that you could be found liable for fraud without it having to be shown you intended to defraud someone or that you caused anyone harm, and potentially have your business shut down because of the decision of one man.
The trial this week is focused on allegations the former president and his children used their inflated wealth to obtain better terms from banks and insurance companies.
Trump has claimed he was not allowed to have a jury in this trial — which is not true. A court document reveals his lawyers simply declined to request a jury trial, thus leaving it all up to Engoron.
So you can believe the outcome is pre-determined, the deck is stacked, his goose is cooked, this is a Stalinist show trial, whatever phrase you want. And you can believe the judge is corrupt and trying to destroy Trump for political purposes.
But one thing you should be able to admit is that if Trump had even the slightest chance of limiting the damage of this case by requesting a jury trial, he should have taken it instead of leaving it all up to the judge.
And then, even after declining to request a jury trial, at the very least, you could probably agree that going out to reporters in the middle of the trial in the courthouse and screaming about the sole person charged with deciding your fate is not the best legal strategy.
We’ll see how it turns out.
