Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump looks on as he attends the ALGOP Summer Meeting in Montgomery, Alabama, Aug. 4, 2023.
Cheney Orr | Reuters
A Recent York judge on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump’s request to delay his sweeping civil fraud trial, calling the previous president’s request “completely without merit.”
Sooner or later earlier, attorneys for Trump, his two adult sons and his businesses had asked the judge to remain the case until three weeks after he has ruled on competing motions for summary judgement. The trial is currently scheduled to start Oct. 2.
Recent York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron promptly smacked down their request.
“Decline to sign,” Engoron wrote in a temporary, handwritten note at the underside of Trump’s proposed order for a stay. “Defendants’ arguments are completely without merit.”
The order keeps the case on course to grow to be Trump’s first trial since he left the White House in 2021. The previous president faces quite a few other major legal challenges, including 4 separate criminal cases, as he campaigns for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Attorney General Letitia James is searching for $250 million in damages within the civil case, which accuses Trump and his co-defendants of submitting years of fraudulent financial statements to get well tax advantages and loan terms for the Trump Organization.
Engoron’s rebuke got here at some point after James asked the judge to sanction Trump and others within the case for repeatedly asserting the identical failed legal arguments.
James asked the judge to issue a combined $10,000 superb to all of the defendants, and one other collective superb of $10,000 on their lawyers.
Late last month, James asked Engoron to grant partial summary judgment against Trump, pointing to what she called a “mountain of undisputed evidence” backing up her allegations.
James in that court filing alleged that Trump’s true net value was much lower than what he claimed annually over the course of a decade, a difference that translated to “$1 billion or more in all but one 12 months,” she said.