New York Judge Arthur Engoron denied a request from the Trump team for a delay on penalties the judge recently imposed following fraud allegations from state Attorney General Letitia James, who claimed a years-long pattern on the Trumps’ part of financially benefiting from the misrepresentation of assets’ value.
“You have failed to explain, much less justify, any basis for a stay,” the judge said, as highlighted this week by New York’s Spectrum News NY1. “I am confident that the Appellate Division will protect your appellate rights.” Trump’s team wanted a 30-day hold. Initial penalties — not including interest — soared past $350 million.
Trump also recently lost in an attempt in New York to delay what’s set to be his first criminal trial, which will cover allegations of falsifying business records related to hush money from before the 2016 elections. Judge Juan Merchan pushed aside claims from the Trump team about supposed impacts from trial prep on Trump’s ongoing campaign for president, which he announced only after the investigation underlying this trial was publicly known. Jury selection in the case — in a locale that Trump and allies of his have repeatedly maligned — starts March 25. It replaces the delayed trial on criminal claims accusing Trump of election misconduct originally set for March.
Though appeals looked set, Engoron’s ruling, if upheld, also included a ban on Trump serving in leadership roles in New York businesses for three years, with slightly shorter but mirrored restrictions on his two adult sons named in the case, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. Though in federal rather than state court, Trump is also still facing a combined total of nearly $90 million in jury-awarded financial penalties over upheld claims from writer E. Jean Carroll of sexual assault and defamation. The successfully alleged defamation covered Trump’s antagonistic responses to Carroll’s account of his misconduct.
