AP Photo/Seth Wenig
- Trump's lawyers asked for a mistrial in their civil fraud trial in New York.
- They took aim at the judge's top law clerk, who they characterize as a Democratic operative.
- Engoron has said he has free reign to consult with his court staff.
Lawyers for Donald Trump and his family have asked for a mistrial in the New York Attorney General's $250 million fraud trial, claiming they've been unfairly treated by the judge and his law clerk, who they characterize as a partisan operative pulling the strings in the courtroom.
The Wednesday mistrial motion — long expected — comes after the attorney general's office finished presenting their case alleging the Trumps and their company illegally misrepresented their finances to banks and tax authorities. For the next month, Trump's team is expected to continue presenting its defense, which argues there's no fraud and no victims.
In Wednesday's motion, Trump's attorneys took aim at Allison Greenfield, the principal law clerk working for New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron in the downtown Manhattan courtroom.
They say Engoron has given Greenfield "unprecedented and inappropriate latitude" in the case by consulting with her on the bench and passing notes with her. The filings dig up social media posts and video recordings showing Greenfield supporting Democratic politicians and attending Democratic party events, which they argue is evidence of a bias against Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election.
"At a minimum, the appearance of 'co-judging' is manifest, and the public (and litigants) may conclude fairly that an unelected staff member has, as is evident from the above images, a direct role in presiding over the trial," Trump's lawyers wrote.
Trump's lawyers are upset with the judge's high school alumni newsletter
Engoron, for his part, has said earlier that he has an "unfettered" right to consult with his staff however he sees fit. In court, Greenfield rarely speaks aloud, and Trump's legal filings do not reference the actual content of the conversations between her and Engoron.
The motion was posted to the court docket as Trump's second defense expert began his second day on the stand, and has gone unremarked upon during the proceedings.
Greenfield sat in her usual seat, several feet to Engoron's right, looking grim-faced. Law clerks typically sit at a separate desk in front of or beside the judge's bench, but because of the massive public interest in the Trump trial, it is being held in a larger, ceremonial courtroom with a different setup.
The mistrial filings — from Trump's lawyers Alina Habba, Christopher Kise, and Clifford Roberts — included quotes from the court transcript in which the lawyers first complained about Greenfield. ("It is incredibly distracting when there are eye rolls and constant whispering at the bench when I'm trying to cross-examine a witness," Habba told Engoron last week.)
The lawyers also took offense on Wednesday with the limited gag order Engoron issued on Trump and the attorneys. The order forbids them from attacking Greenfield and other members of his staff online or in spoken form. Engoron said he issued the order because Trump's previous attacks on Greenfield have resulted in threatening phone calls, letters, and emails reaching his chambers.
Michael M Santiago/Pool Photo via AP
The mistrial motion included a supporting filing by David Demarest, a Florida lawyer who was a state-level civil court judge in upstate New York for 20 years before retiring in 2015.
Demarest, a former president of the Association of Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, contributed his own list of criticisms of Engoron's judicial conduct.
These include the judge "permitting his Law Clerk to preside on the bench with him," creating "the appearance that an unelected staff member has a direct role in presiding over and co-judging the trial."
That criticism echoes previous false claims by defense lawyers that the law clerk is somehow improperly influencing the outcome of the trial.
Engoron has repeatedly stressed that it is his law clerk's job to advise him on the law, including during proceedings. She has been engaged in the trial and was vocal in pre-trial hearings, during which she frequently posed skeptical questions to defense lawyers.
Demerest also criticizes Greenfield for having made political campaign donations in excess of a $500 limit. Greenfield is allowed to exceed that limit in paying for tickets to events connected to her own ongoing candidacy for a Manhattan judgeship.
The former judge's list of criticisms also includes Engoron's continued posting to the online Wheatley School Alumni Newsletter of articles about his own decisions in the case. The articles "in some instances disparage the parties and counsel," Demarest wrote.
New York Attorney General Letitia James alleges that the Trump Organization — and co-defendants Donald Trump, Eric Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., as well as other longtime executives — have systematically exaggerated the company's assets to obtain favorable terms for bank loans and tax payments. They seek penalties of more than $250 million in allegedly ill-gotten gains.
A summary judgement decision from Engoron — which Trump lawyers complain came less than a week before the trial — has already largely ruled in the attorney general's favor.
"Once again, Donald Trump is trying to dismiss the truth and the facts, but the numbers and evidence don't lie," James said of the mistrial motion in a statement Wednesday.
Engoron will have an opportunity to rule on — and likely deny — the mistrial motion after the attorney general's team responds to it. After the ruling, Trump's lawyers can take it up with an appeals court, which will decide whether to let the trial stand.