President Donald Trump’s lawyers are moving to have radical Judge Arthur Engoron removed from the New York civil “fraud” case after new evidence emerged indicating possible outside influence on the trial.
On Thursday, Trump’s legal team filed documents in court seeking to have Engoron thrown off the case.
The move came after Trump’s attorney discovered that Engoron allegedly engaged in “prohibited communications” with an outside party about the case.
Trump’s lawyers are trying to get Engoron tossed off the case as they appeal his highly controversial ruling.
Engoron controversially oversaw the civil case that was brought by New York’s anti-Trump career Democrat Attorney General Letitia James.
After deciding that Trump was “guilty,” Engoron ordered the 45th president to pay nearly half a billion dollars to the state.
In the court documents, Trump’s lawyers cited an interview that real estate lawyer Adam Bailey gave with a local NBC News affiliate in New York.
During the interview, Bailey claimed that he spoke to Engoron during the trial at the courthouse where it was taking place.
“I actually had the ability to speak to him three weeks ago,” Bailey told the outlet in February, according to documents filed by Trump’s lawyers.
“I saw him in the corner [at the courthouse] and I told my client, ‘I need to go.’
“And I walked over and we started talking …
“I wanted him to know what I think and why…
“I really want him to get it right.”
Trump’s lawyers argued that the allegations were “fundamentally incompatible with the responsibilities attendant to donning the black robe and sitting in judgment.”
“Specifically, this Court has been publicly accused of engaging in prohibited communications regarding the merits of this case, in clear violation of the Code and this Court’s solemn oath,” they said.
“In sum, this Court appears to have proceeded not only in contravention of controlling law and the Constitution but perhaps also contrary to the governing standards of judicial conduct.
“The gravity of these public allegations of potential misconduct is underscored by the fact that this Court, based upon public reporting, is also now apparently under investigation by the Commission on Judicial Conduct (the ‘Commission’).”
They said that the development creates at a minimum the “appearance of impropriety.”
If the courts side with Trump’s lawyers, it would mean that Engoron must be removed from the case.
A state judicial conduct investigation is currently underway regarding Engoron’s conversation.
Engoron has denied that Bailey’s comments influenced his decision in Trump’s case.
In February, Engoron ordered Trump, his companies, and fellow defendants to pay nearly $364 million over his business practices.
Trump and his organizations, specifically, were penalized $354 million.
He appealed the decision.
Engoron ordered that a court-appointed independent monitor overseeing the Trump Organization’s financial activity will continue to serve in the role for at least three years.
As an alternative to Engoron’s recusal, Trump’s lawyers requested the court grant an expedited evidentiary hearing on the issues it brought up.
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