A judge in New York expressed frustration at Donald Trump’s defense counsel while considering sanctioning the defendants and their lawyers for making frivolous arguments in the state’s civil case against the former president and others.
“When I first heard those arguments, I thought that was a joke,” said Judge Arthur Engoron, who added that he has repeatedly ruled on and been upheld on some of the arguments rehashed by defense.
“The rule on sanctions is if you’ve been warned, don’t do it. You were warned,” Engoron said.
“As a lawyer, I have to make the arguments,” Trump attorney Chris Kise told Engoron.
Kise earlier in the afternoon asked the judge to dismiss the case against Trump and the other defendants.
“What is happening here is what happens every day in complex business transitions,” Kise said about the vast differences in appraisals for Trump’s assets.
When Kise argued that no one was harmed by Trump’s business dealings, Engoron offered a frank assessment.
“The fact that no one was hurt does not mean the case gets dismissed,” Engoron said, adding that he believes that “fairness in the marketplace” was a victim of the defendants’ actions.
“This is why billionaires are billionaires,” Kise said of Trump’s ability to see the value of his “trophy” properties.
Because they lie, cheat and steal?
Also…
By contrast, the AG’s lawyers will ask the judge to find Trump and other defendants, including his adult sons and his family business, liable for fraud even before a jury starts hearing evidence.
James accused Trump, his children and his company of “grossly” inflating the former president’s net worth by billions of dollars and cheating lenders and others with false and misleading financial statements.
Fraud at this level is a felony in the State of NY. I hope if this civil case goes through, criminal charges are brought for all of them.
You must have that agency confused with one that historically hasn’t targeted middle-class taxpayers for audits in the last hundred+ years…
