Former President Donald Trump has filed for a new trial in his civil fraud case, arguing that the judge who will decide it is biased against him.
In a motion filed on Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers said, “The evidence of apparent and actual bias is tangible and overwhelming.”
The motion discusses Judge Arthur Engoron along with his legal assistant. The judge ordered everyone to remain silent after hearing repeated complaints against this individual from Trump’s attorneys and the previous president, CNN reported.
Engoron has expressed his disinterest in hearing the motion before. He initially advised Trump’s attorney not to file it, but later on, he informed him that filing it in writing was an option.
There is a great deal of concrete proof of actual and apparent bias in this case. A mistrial is required because of this evidence and an unprecedented deviation from standard court processes, as stated in the request filed by Trump’s attorneys.
In defence of his talks with his law clerk, the judge said he had a “unfettered right” to discuss legal matters with her. He has also brought up the fact that, in the event that the clerk is campaigning, as she formerly did, there are various regulations pertaining to political donations.
According to Engoron’s gag order, Trump and his attorneys are not allowed to discuss court employees or, more precisely, the things he discusses with his law clerk. Trump was penalised each time the gag order was broken.
“Once more, Donald Trump is attempting to distort the facts and the truth,” an attorney general’s office representative stated. In order to enrich himself and his family, Donald Trump fabricated outrageous lies for years, and for those lies, he is now being held accountable. No matter how hard he tries to conceal his deception, the truth will eventually out.
By the beginning of the seventh week of the trial, the defence team for Trump had already started assembling its case.
Following his most recent court appearance in his civil fraud trial on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump continued to criticise New York Attorney General Letitia James, calling her out for “smirking” in the courtroom.
“Racist A.G. Letitia James is smirking all day long from her seat in Court, as New York continues to set records in murder and other violent crimes, and businesses flee to other States,” the post’s opening line said on his Truth Social site.
According to reports, James was seen grinning on Monday in a New York City courtroom when Donald Trump Jr. approached the witness stand.
Given that the trial’s judge, Arthur Engoron, has already determined that Trump and his business, the Trump Organisation, are civilly liable for misrepresenting the value of assets in order to obtain higher loan rates, the trial seems fairly meaningless.