The judge who presided over former President Trump’s civil fraud trial on Thursday Refused to resign He recused himself from the case amid allegations that he improperly discussed it with outside parties.
Judge Arthur Engoron said he had “absolute confidence” in his ability to remain impartial and rejected claims by the former president and his legal team that the judge had damaged his credibility with an impromptu conversation with a prominent New York real estate lawyer.
“Because no grounds for peremptory recusal exist in this case, it is up to me and my conscience to determine whether this 90-second ex parte denunciation by a non-party, non-expert, who shared no facts about the law with which I fully understand and was deeply involved, had any impact on the adjudication of a dispute in which I presided for three and a half years, during which I had already rendered several defining decisions,” Engoron wrote in his eight-page decision. “I hereby assert that it did not.”
On Feb. 16, the day Engoron won a multimillion-dollar judgment against Trump and his companies, New York lawyer Adam Reitman Bailey said: Interview with NBC New York He approached the judge about three weeks ago to give ex parte advice on the case.
Mr Bailey told the outlet that he had tried to let Mr Engoron know “what I think and why” so that the judge could “make the right decision”.
The lawyer later said “the word Donald Trump” never came up in the conversation, but when asked by NBC New York if it was clear they were discussing the former president’s case, he replied, “Well, we obviously weren’t talking about the Mets.”
Trump’s legal team cited the conversation last month in calling on the judge to recuse himself from the case, arguing that his actions were “fundamentally incompatible with the responsibilities that come with wearing the black robe of the bench.”
They sought subpoenas from Bailey for information about the conversations, which Engoron granted in part but narrowed the scope to avoid an “improperly broad search” by the former president’s legal team. The Hill has reached out to Trump’s lawyers for comment.
“I did not initiate, welcome, encourage, engage with, learn from, or even enjoy Bailey’s vitriolic attacks,” Engoron wrote, “and I have not based any part of my judgment on them, as Bailey has wildly, falsely, and slanderously asserted.”
The judge also accused Bailey of trying to “develop a reputation as someone who influences judges”, slamming him as unethical and “probably illegal”.
Bailey previously told The Hill that he considered his comments on NBC New York to be “off the record” and that he had only spoken to Engoron about the judge’s summary judgment in September that found Trump and his co-defendants guilty of fraud.
Judge Engoron in February found that Trump, the Trump Organization and executives conspired to manipulate the former president’s net worth for tax and insurance purposes, and awarded him $464 million plus interest. Trump is appealing the ruling.
