Trump's Lawyers Request Mistrial in N.Y. Fraud Case

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Facts

  • Former Pres. Donald Trump and his family are requesting a mistrial be declared in his New York civil case, claiming that Judge Arthur Engoron and his clerk are biased against the defendants. Trump's lawyers filed the request for a new trial on Wednesday.1
  • Attorneys for Trump, his sons Donald Jr. and Eric, the Trump organization, and its top executives argue that 'the evidence of apparent and actual bias' in the case is “tangible and overwhelming.” A 30-page filing in the Manhattan Supreme Court cites instances of Engoron and his clerk demonstrating their bias against the GOP frontrunner for the 2024 US presidential nomination.2
  • Trump's team noted comments Engoron made about the case and its defendants on a Wheatley School alumni page that the judge appears to run. Defense lawyers also called out his clerk, Allison Greenfield, for her allegedly 'unprecedented role in the trial' along with her partisan activities. The judge and his clerk are both Democrats.3
  • A spokesperson for N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James, also a Democrat, said that Trump's latest move is an attempt to 'dismiss the truth and the facts.' Engoron has signaled that he will deny the mistrial request and said he has an 'unfettered right' to discuss legal issues with his clerk and that she was able to make political donations during her time campaigning.4
  • The mistrial request is the latest event in the ongoing feud between Trump and Engoron. During the trial, which began Oct. 2, Trump has called the judge a 'fraud' while Engoron has imposed $15K in fines related to gag order violations over Trump's comments on social media.5
  • Trump and his family are on trial in the $250M civil case for allegedly misrepresenting the value of their assets to secure favorable financing. The defense's expert witness, Jason Flemmons, testified Wednesday and said that Trump's financial statements that were not disclosed conformed with generally accepted accounting principles.6

Sources: 1Reuters, 2CNBC, 3Daily Wire, 4CNN, 5CBS and 6ABC News.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by The New Republic. Donald Trump and his attorneys are trying to pull out every trick in the book to avoid responsibility for the defendants' decades of fraud. In his typical bullying fashion, Trump has attacked Judge Engoron and his principal law clerk while riling up his violent MAGA base. The former president continues to obstruct justice to save his business empire and avoid responsibility for his actions.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by Conservative Brief. The evidence of Judge Engoron and his law clerk's overt political bias against former Pres. Donald Trump is overwhelming, and a mistrial is necessary to redeem any semblance of fairness in a so-called 'justice' system that has lost the public's trust. Outside of the rabid anti-Trump base that wants the former president sidelined at all costs, most Americans recognize the political witch hunt that Trump is enduring.

Predictions