The judge overseeing the civil fraud trial let Trump talk uninterrupted, despite rejecting his closing argument request.
NEWSWEEK
The judge overseeing Donald Trump‘s civil fraud trial in New York was too lenient when he allowed the former president to go on a courtroom rant lasting several minutes, according to a legal expert.
Joyce Vance, a former federal prosecutor and legal analyst, said that “nothing good happens when you bend the rules” for Trump. She added that this is what Judge Arthur Engoron did during closing arguments in the Manhattan court on Thursday.
New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit in 2022 that alleged that Trump and top executives at his family company, The Trump Organization, conspired to increase his net worth by billions of dollars on financial statements provided to banks and insurers to make deals and secure loans. Trump, who is the GOP frontrunner for the 2024 presidential nomination, has denied any wrongdoing and called the case against him politically motivated. Newsweek contacted Trump’s legal team on Saturday for comment via email.
In an unusual request, Trump wanted to make his own closing arguments in the trial where James initially sought $250 million from him but now is asking for $370 million, plus interest. Engoron denied the request after the former president’s legal team refused the judge’s terms that Trump would not use it as an opportunity to turn his argument into a “campaign speech;” discuss matters “irrelevant” to the case; or try to introduce new lines of evidence.
However, Engoron still allowed Trump to go on a diatribe on Thursday that lasted around six minutes. During this, the Republican attacked the judge and James, and said that he is innocent of all the allegations against him. Engoron stopped Trump only so the court could go on lunch as scheduled.
Writing in her Civil Discourse blog, Vance said that Engoron “bent the rules” to allow Trump to speak during his civil trial, despite not being questioned under oath on the witness stand. Vance added that the courts should be treating the former president as they would any other person.
“Trump proceeded to do more or less everything the Judge had previously forbidden. Before Trump began, the Judge asked whether he would abide by the guidelines he’d previously sent. Trump simply ignored him, jumping straight in,” Vance wrote.
“Other parties don’t get this sort of special treatment in court. Trump shouldn’t have received it either,” Vance added. “Predictably, it did no good. It did not prevent Trump from continuing to complain that he was being treated unfairly.
“It’s time for the courts to stop giving Trump special treatment. To stop walking delicately and gingerly lest he claim foul play when he is merely subjected to procedures anyone else in his position would be held accountable to,” Vance wrote. “The courts, charged with delivering justice, need to stop being afraid of Trump.”
Engoron has already ruled that Trump committed fraud by misrepresenting the value of his properties for years in his financial statements. The proceedings in New York were mainly to determine the size of the penalty the former president faces.
