Shannon Stapleton/Pool/Reuters
Judge Arthur Engoron attends closing arguments in the Trump Organization’s civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, New York City, USA, on January 11, 2024.
CNN
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Donald Trump’s lawyers have asked a New York judge who ordered the former president to pay nearly $500 million to step aside from the case, arguing he had “prohibited communications” with an estate lawyer about the case before issuing his ruling.
Trump’s legal team said if Judge Arthur Engoron recuses himself from the case, they will ask for an evidentiary hearing that will examine in detail conversations between the judge and New York real estate lawyer Adam Bailey.
In a series of court filings on Thursday, Trump’s lawyers cited an interview Bailey gave to NBC New York on the day of the verdict, in which Bailey said: [this Court] Three weeks ago… I saw him in the corner. [at the courthouse] I told my client, “I have to go,” and I walked over and we started talking…I wanted him to know what I thought. [about the case] And why… I really want him to get it right.”
Trump’s lawyers say that’s reason for the judge to recuse himself from the case, which has since been appealed, and the judge is still overseeing a monitor he appointed to oversee the Trump Organization’s finances.
“Specifically, this Court has been publicly accused of engaging in prohibited communications regarding the facts of this case, in clear violation of the rules of law and this Court’s solemn oath,” Trump’s lawyers wrote, adding: “Where circumstances, such as here, can legitimately call into question this Court’s impartiality, the Court must recuse itself. Indeed, there is no other way to dispel the shadow that now hangs over this Court’s impartiality, fairness, and ability to uphold the rules of law.”
“According to Mr. Bailey, the Court actively participated in discussions regarding the merits of the case and, during those discussions, the Court asked Mr. Bailey ‘numerous questions,'” Trump’s legal team wrote, which also issued subpoenas to the estate lawyers.
Bailey told CNN he only spoke to Engoron about the summary judgment in September “because that was the only thing I discussed with a reporter.”
“We were arguing about the law and where he got the law wrong,” Bailey said, adding: “I wasn’t even following the trial.”
He further said he did not believe it was “in any way wrong” to have spoken to Engoron about his personal views on the judge’s published ruling.
“I have been deceived and tricked and I am devastated that this is happening. This is wrong,” Bailey said. “I am devastated and hurt that Judge Engoron is about to retire and yet he still has to deal with this because of a statement I made privately.”
CNN has reached out to NBC New York.
Bailey declined to comment on whether he would seek to have the subpoenas quashed.
The NBC New York article was published in May, months after Engoron won a $454 million judgment against Trump in February. Bailey told NBC New York that he spoke with Engoron before the judge handed down his ruling.
At the time, a court spokesperson told NBC New York, “There have been no ex parte discussions regarding this matter between Judge Engoron and Mr. Bailey or any other individual. Judge Engoron’s decision on February 16th was his own, came after careful consideration and was in no way influenced by this individual.”
Al Baker, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the Courts, said Thursday that “we have no further comment on this matter.” The New York Attorney General’s Office declined to comment.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed to this report.
