The judge in Donald Trump’s New York civil fraud trial denied the former president’s request to postpone his testimony in the case, saying on Tuesday, “No way, no how.”
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks on December 02, 2023, in Ankeny, Iowa. The judge in Trump’s New York civil fraud trial denied the former president’s request to postpone his testimony in the case on Tuesday.
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Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has been civilly sued by New York Attorney General Letitia James for $250 million. In her lawsuit, James alleges that Trump, his adult sons, and top executives at 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 has denied any wrongdoing and has called the trial politically motivated.
During the course of the trial, Trump has made repeated attacks on judges and court staff, often taking to Truth Social, his social media platform, to voice his stance, which caused him to be issued gag orders. The former president attacked Judge Arthur Engoron’s, who is overseeing the case, longtime law clerk, Alison Greenfield, on social media, which made Engoron fine him twice after the insults. More recently, Engoron’s wife has also been at the center of Trump’s attacks after she was accused of posting derogatory claims about the former president. She has denied these allegations.
On Tuesday, Engoron denied a request from Trump’s lawyers which asked the court to postpone Trump’s testimony scheduled for December 11.
“Absolutely not, no way, no how,” Engoron said.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump via email for comment.
Adam Klasfeld, senior legal correspondent at the Messenger, took to X, formerly Twitter, to share the rest of Engoron’s response as he denied the request.
Justice Engoron then told Kise jovially, “You tried.” After a slight pause, the judge added, “And I gave it a deep thought as well.”
This comes after a state appellate court judge temporarily froze two gag orders in November that Engoron imposed on Trump. However, the appellate court then lifted them until it heard a full appeal from Trump’s lawyers, who wanted the gag orders removed.
After the gag order was reinstated, Engoron commented on the ruling that he intends to enforce it “rigorously and vigorously,” according to the Associated Press. Trump’s attorney, Chris Kise, said he was aware of the ruling adding that it’s “a tragic day for the rule of law,” according to the AP.
This also follows Eric Trump’s reversal on Tuesday in which he will no longer take the stand as a defense witness in the case. The former president’s son was scheduled to testify Wednesday as one of the final witnesses in the case.
However, the reversal came because “everything Eric was going to cover was covered by other witnesses,” Alan Garten, the Trump Organization’s executive vice president, told NBC News.
Trump last testified on November 6, his adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and his daughter Ivanka Trump also testified in the case.
During Trump’s testimony last month, he lashed out against the judge and lawyers in the case, whom he decried as “unfair.” The former president also went head to head with Engoron as he told Trump’s lawyers to “control him” and warned that “this isn’t a political rally.”
The trial will resume on Thursday, with testimony from accounting expert Professor Eli Bartov of NYU. Trump is likely to attend the trial as a spectator on Thursday, his attorney Chris Kise told reporters on Monday.
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