Category NYC Activist Judge Arthur Engoron

Mar 26 2024

NY Supreme Court Lowers Trump’s Bond to $175m


Posted originally on Mar 25, 2024 By Martin Armstrong

Trumos Bond reduced 175_Million 3 15 24

COMMENT: Marty, you are one hell of a strategic lawyer. The NY Supreme Court either reads you or realizes that this AG will bankrupt the city if she starts seizing property and Trump wins in the appellate courts. It’s just brilliant. Let them sell his properties that will collapse in price and then sue for the original value.

You should be on our board.

All the best

UT

ANSWER: The New York State Supreme Court is probably getting negative feedback from the major banks and companies in NYC. I can confirm that people are exiting NYC because of this case. I would have preferred that they seized the property, sold it for $1, and then I would own NYC for a song. It was the perfect hedge. They would become liable for the maximum value so that it would have been selling at the top, and the government would have been the buyer.

As they say, you must be VERY careful about what you wish for.

They were trying to consume all of his cash to drain his ability to run in the 2024 election

Mar 26 2024

New York Appeals Court Intervenes at Last Minute to Lower Trump Appellate Bond and Remove AG Letitia James Restrictions on Trump Family Organization


Posted originally on the CTH on March 25, 2024 | Sundance

The New York State appeals court waited until the last minute to intervene and rule substantial modifications to the lower court ruling. [SEE pdf Here]

The timing here is transparently political.  The court could have intervened earlier with this decision but appears to have preferred to allow the Lawfare narrative the maximum amount of time to permeate the anti-Trump news cycle.  However, faced with the reality of a full appellate review later this year collapsing and reversing the underlying case, the NY court had few options other than timing their intervention.

The appeals court lowered the bond amount to the maximum possible in real terms.  Meaning the demand for a $454 million bond was never sustainable, explainable, or legally comprehensible under all precedent.  In reality it was an impossible bond for any organization to obtain, and ultimately that issue was going to lead to massive legal consequences within the New York state legal system.  They might hate Trump, but without intervention New York would be collapsing their corporate business structure.

The lower court ruling was stayed, and the bond was lowered to an obtainable $175 million for the appeal.  The lower court ruling against Trump organization officers was also stayed, allowing the corporate leadership of the various Trump organization LLCs to remain as they are.  All of the substantive elements of Judge Engoron’s verdict were stayed, pending appeal.

[Source, Page 2]

Attorney General Letitia James was left only with a public relations narrative to sell, saying in part, “the $464 million judgment — plus interest — against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands.” Duh, pending appeal – which is transparently obvious and the point therein.

Once again, Lawfare at its root is a narrative weapon used primarily to sway public opinion.  AG James statement in response to the appeals court intervention is essentially an affirmation of this reality.

Appearing in New York to defend against another Lawfare operation, President Trump spoke briefly to the media after the ruling was made public.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=8WyrlrWN99g%3Ffeature%3Doembed

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The hardline leftists always end up with a case of the ‘outcome sads’, because they do not accept the nature of Lawfare intent.  However, the non-sheeple democrats and independents are eyes-wide-open to how this Lawfare nonsense works.  Hence, President Trump climbing in the polling.

“It’s the beginning of the end.” or “The walls are closing in.” or, “__ fill in the blank __.”

Politico – […] The ruling — issued by a panel of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court — means the civil fraud case could remain effectively frozen through the November election. The panel told Trump’s lawyers to prepare his case to be presented at the court’s September term, and any decision on the merits of the appeal could take weeks or months. (More)

Dec 1 2023

New York Appeals Court Reinstitutes President Trump Gag Order Without Any Explanation


Posted originally on the CTH on November 30, 2023 | Sundance 

In the New York civil action against Donald Trump, all the banks and lenders did their own due diligence on financing terms with Donald Trump.  All operational loans and Trump Org. business loans were paid back.  There were no defaults or banking interests adversely impacted. There are no victims of what the State calls “fraud,” yet this judge is ruling the Trump organization must dissolve all business interests in the state and exit.

Inside the insufferable nonsense represented by the trial Judge Arthur Engoron, acting on behalf of his partisan political clerk Allison Greenfield, issued a gag order forbidding President Trump from complaining about the political affiliations of the judge, clerk and any other court official or possible witness.   After an interim stay of the gag order by an appellate justice, the New York appeals court has reversed the stay and reinstituted the gag order.

The NY appeals court ruling is AVAILABLE HERE.  You will note in the 2-page ruling they do not explain why the gag order is appropriate, or why the gag order is reinstituted.  The farce continues.

(Via Fox News) – A New York appeals court reinstated a gag order preventing former President Donald Trump from maligning court staffers on Thursday.

New York Judge Arthur Engoron had initially issued the gag order in early October after Trump lashed out at one of his law clerks on social media. Trump is currently fighting accusations of business fraud leveled by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Appeals court Judge David Friedman had issued a stay on Engoron’s gag order on Nov. 16, saying it potentially infringed on Trump’s First Amendment rights.

[…] “They are defending the Worst and Least Respected Attorney General in the United States, Letitia James, who is a Worldwide disgrace, as is her illegal Witch Hunt against me. The Radical and Unprecedented actions of Judge Engoron will keep BUSINESSES and JOBS forever out of New York State,” Trump wrote in a recent social media post. (read more)

Nov 17 2023

New York Appellate Judge Stops Ridiculous New York Gag Order of President Trump


Posted originally on the CTH on November 16, 2023 | Sundance 

Everything happening in/around the courtroom of Judge Engoron in New York City has been ridiculous in the extreme.

Even left leaning pundits and political commentators have begun to retreat from the fevered pace of the NY civil case because they can see the appeals court intervening.

Earlier today appellate judge David Friedman finally intervened in the insufferable gag order and put some common sense back into the case putting a stay on the lower court order.

NEW YORK (AP) — A gag order that barred Donald Trump from commenting about court personnel after he disparaged a law clerk in his New York civil fraud trial was temporarily lifted Thursday by an appellate judge who raised free speech concerns.

Judge David Friedman of the state’s intermediate appeals court issued what’s known a stay — suspending the gag order and allowing the former president to freely comment about court staff while a longer appeals process plays out.

The trial judge, Arthur Engoron, imposed the gag order on Oct. 3 after Trump made a false comment about the judge’s law clerk on social media. He later fined Trump $15,000 for violations and expanded it to his lawyers after they questioned the clerk’s prominent role in the trial.

Ruling at an emergency hearing Thursday, Friedman questioned Engoron’s authority to police Trump’s speech outside the courtroom — such as his frequent gripes about the case on social media and in comments to TV cameras in the courthouse hallway.

Friedman said that while it’s true that judges often issue gag orders, they’re mostly used in criminal cases where there’s a fear that comments about the case could influence the jury. Trump’s civil trial doesn’t have a jury.

Trump lawyer Christopher Kise said after Friedman ruled that the appellate judge “made the right decision and allowed President Trump to take full advantage of his constitutional First Amendment rights to talk about bias in his own trial, what he’s seeing and witnessing in his own trial — which, frankly, everyone needs to see.”

Another Trump attorney, Alina Habba, indicated she has no plans to advise the former president to stay quiet about the clerk. (read more)

The temporary pause in Engoron’s gag orders comes as a separate, more sweeping gag order on Trump in his criminal case in Washington, D.C. has also been lifted pending oral arguments before an appeals court scheduled for Monday.

Nov 11 2023

EP8: Trump MISTRIAL? NYC Judge Engoron and Family EXPOSED, House GOP Caves on Biden Impeachment


Posted originally on Rumble by Laura Loomer on:Nov 10, 8:21 pm EST

Nov 4 2023

Weirdness Abounds – New York Judge Engoron Expands Gag Order to Stop Trump Defense Attorneys from Discussing Instructions from Court Clerk


Posted originally on the CTH on November 3, 2023 | Sundance 

The judge in the New York City case against Donald Trump and the Trump organization has transparently been a little goofy.  From the first day when he posed for the cameras, to the sketchy application of legal review within the case, Judge Arthur Engoron exhibits the classic traits of being weird and unstable.

There is a pattern amid the deployment of Lawfare that deserves some background context.  Whenever Lawfare is deployed there are always background characters who are seemingly needed to keep the bizarre interpretations of Lawfare tactics on track.

We saw this play out with Debra Katzenberg, Monica McLean and David Laufman controlling Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey-Ford.  We saw it again with Mary McCord playing the role in the background of the Trump Lawfare impeachment to guide Jerry Nadler and Adam Schiff.  We saw it again with Andrew Weissmann and Norm Eisen guiding Special Prosecutor Jack Smith from the backbench of Lawfare.  In each case the principal activity is guided by Lawfare ideologues who use position to influence.

In the Judge Engoron example, court clerk Allison Greenfield has been passing notes and instructions to Engoron as the case has progressed.  The activity has become so disconcerting that Trump’s lawyers have called it out in court as it happens {Breitbart Link}.  In response to the sunlight upon the visible activity, Judge Engoron has now expanded his gag order to prohibit Trump’s lawyers from drawing attention to the activity of Ms. Greenfield.

NEW YORK — The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s ongoing civil fraud trial issued another gag order on Friday — this time prohibiting all lawyers working on the trial from “from making any public statements, in or out of court, that refer to any confidential communications, in any form, between my staff and me.” (link)

The issuance of the gag order is weird because the entire dynamic of the clerk instructing the judge is weird.   The gag order is an effort by Engoron to stop people from noticing it….  Yeah, that’s exponentially weirder.

POLITICO – [Trump Attorney Chris] Kise complained about Greenfield’s habit of passing notes to Engoron during proceedings, suggesting she is improperly influencing his decisions. Engoron reacted sharply to that complaint, telling Kise, “I have an unfettered, absolute right to consult with my law clerks” and saying he wouldn’t tolerate future comments about his staff.

Kise, though, continued to argue that he needed to state objections on the record for the purposes of an eventual appeal. “If notes are being passed at certain specific times or they’re being passed in a way that might indicate some bias,” he said, “that’s a record that needs to be made contemporaneously.” (more)

As noted by Henry Rossof from inside the court today, “Judge Engoron said he will note a continuing objection to his consultation with his clerk but does not want anything more said about her… he will still consult.”

“I have an absolute, unfettered right to consult with my law clerks anywhere, anytime,” Engoron noted. “There’s no more need to make a record” [of it within the court when it occurs] he concluded.

After this series of exchanges today, Engoron then expanded his court order to forbid the Trump lawyers from telling the public about what was happening between him and his clerk in the court.

Yup, weird, sketchy and fitting right in with the pattern of how Lawfare is deployed.

These people are ideologically not stable.

Nov 3 2023

Trump Attorney Alina Habba Summarizes Status of New York Case Against Trump Business Organization


Posted originally on the CTH on November 2, 2023

Everything about the case in New York City against the Trump organization business operations is ridiculous.  There are no victims.  There was no fraud.  All of the lenders did their own due diligence.  All of the loans were paid back without issue and the statement of financial condition was factual and accurate.

Additionally, the statute being used as the predicate for the case is a consumer fraud statute, intended to protect borrowers from predatory lenders. In the four corners of this case, Trump is the borrower, and the banks were the lenders.  New York is flipping the statute to claim the borrower defrauded the lenders, despite the lenders denying there was any fraud and there was no harm.   The entire case is ridiculous.

In this brief video segment, Trump defense lawyer Alina Habba reviews the current status of the case.  WATCH:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Zzk0aevpWg4%3Fstart%3D22%26feature%3Doembed

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Oct 26 2023

Crazed NY Judge Claims Trump Violated Gag Order by Criticizing Michael Cohen


Posted originally on the CTH on October 25, 2023 | Sundance

Justice Arthur Engoron is truly one of the most ridiculous judges on the bench.

During a break in the courtroom theatrics, following testimony by Michael Cohen, President Trump told the media, “This judge is a very partisan judge with a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is.”  President Trump was clearly remarking about Michael Cohen who was on the witness stand.

However, Moonbat Judge Engoron then demanded President Trump take the witness stand so he could ask him who those comments were directed toward.  With Trump on the witness stand, the judge asked: “To whom were you referring?”  “You and Cohen,” Trump replied.

The judge then said he did not believe Trump, “as the trier of fact, I find the witness is not credible“, he decreed from his perch; preferring to believe that President Trump was talking about Judge Engoron’s clerk.    The idiot in a robe then levied another $10,000 sanction based on his wrongful assumption of President Trump’s thinking.

This is all far too ridiculous at this point.

NEW YORK – […] Trump unexpectedly took the witness stand Wednesday to face questioning from the judge about comments Trump made earlier in the day apparently disparaging the judge’s law clerk.

“As the trier of fact, I find the witness is not credible,” Justice Arthur Engoron said after Trump testified.

Trump’s testimony marked a remarkable moment in the trial, eliciting gasps in the room as the former president walked from the defense table to the witness stand.

During a break in the proceedings earlier in the day, Trump told reporters in the hallway outside the courtroom that “this judge is a very partisan judge with a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is.”

With Trump on the witness stand, the judge asked: “To whom were you referring?”

“You and Cohen,” Trump replied, referring to Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer and fixer who testified about Trump’s business practices on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Engoron, however, indicated he believed Trump was referring to his law clerk, Allison Greenfield, who sits directly to the judge’s right on the bench and whom Trump has already disparaged once before. (more)

Oct 3 2023

VIDEO – President Trump Is Furious at Judicial Conduct and Activist Judge Arthur Engoron in New York City Civil Trial


Posted originally on the CTH on October 2, 2023 | Sundance 

There are no elements to this farce of a judicial proceeding which will survive appellate court review.  The entire motive and process is easily identified by any intellectually honest person as a complete sham and legal clown show, intended to advance extreme ideological Lawfare.

President Trump delivered remarks and held an impromptu press conference during the recess of the court. President Trump is furious at the ridiculous nature of the proceedings and the judicial activism that is on display. WATCH:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=f38r_hL92P4%3Ffeature%3Doembed

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The fact that some professional Republicans are just as gleeful at this nonsense effort, is perhaps just as infuriating as the visibility of the corruption itself.   Our constitutional republic cannot withstand this level of tearing at the fabric of our nation.

Sure, Barack Obama, David Plouffe and the extreme leftist radicals and communists don’t care; this we all understand.  However, pay close attention to the Machiavellian Republicans, the so-called “conservatives” in our national leadership, who will sit quietly, passively and willfully blind as this insanity is advanced.

All the banks and lenders did their own due diligence on financing terms with Donald Trump.  All operational loans and Trump Org. business loans were paid back.  There were no defaults or banking interests adversely impacted. There are no victims of what the State calls “fraud,” yet this judge is ruling the Trump organization must dissolve all business interests in the state and exit within 10 days.

New York Attorney General Latisha James campaigned for office with promises to target the Trump Organization and Donald Trump himself.  This is malicious Lawfare in the extreme.