Judge Arthur Engoron ruled on Thursday to formalize the punishments handed down to former President Donald Trump in his New York civil fraud case after Trump attempted to delay enforcement of the penalties by 30 days.
Trump, who was fined $354 million and banned from doing business in New York for three years, had hoped to propose a counter-judgement to the one that was proposed by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Engoron disagreed and said that Trump’s lawyers had not justified the need for a stay.
“You have failed to explain, much less justify, any basis for a stay,” Engoron said. “I am confident that the Appellate Division will protect your appellate rights.”
On Wednesday, Trump lawyer Clifford Robert had told Engoron that not allowing Trump’s team to submit a counter-judgement “would be contrary to fundamental fairness and due process.”
In another letter to Engoron, Robert said that James was rushing the process in a way that violated normal procedure for such cases.
“The Court’s direction that it sees ‘no need for a motion or conference,’ because the proposed Judgment ‘exactly tracks the’ February 16 Decision, ignores the fact that the proposed Judgment expressly states that a motion has been made, which is simply wrong. The Attorney General has not filed any motion on notice, nor moved to settle the proposed Judgment; her unseemly rush to memorialize a ‘judgment’ violates all accepted practice in New York state court,” he wrote.
Throughout the case, Trump, who plans on appealing the decision, has said that the prosecution and judge were both politically motivated to harm him as he mounts another presidential campaign. Critics have raised concerns over Engoron, who has exclusively donated to Democratic candidates over the past 25 years, as well as James, who campaigned on going after Trump.
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James also recently threatened to seize Trump’s New York properties if he can’t come up with the money to pay the civil fraud fine.
“If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” James told ABC News. “We are prepared to make sure that the judgment is paid to New Yorkers, and yes, I look at 40 Wall Street each and every day.”
James was referring to the Trump Building, a 72-story building with 1.3 square million feet of office space on Wall Street right by the New York Stock Exchange.
