The verdict in former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial has been delayed as the judge weighs whether to ban the former president from doing business.
The verdict in former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in Manhattan that could see him banned for life from doing business in New York has been delayed until mid-February, according to a court spokesperson.
Justice Arthur Engoron said during the trial’s closing arguments on Jan. 11 that he hoped to make his final decision by Jan. 31 in a much-anticipated verdict that could, in addition to hitting the former president with a lifetime business ban, see him fined $370 million.
After the tentative Jan. 31 deadline came and went without a verdict, the spokesperson for the New York State Office of Court Administration, Alfred Baker, said that the judge is now expected to deliver his decision in early to mid-February.
“That’s the working plan now,” Mr. Baker told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement on Feb. 1.
The spokesperson added that the new timeline for a verdict is a “rough estimate” that could still change, and that the verdict would be a written decision, with no news conference.
Monitor’s Report
While it’s unclear why Justice Engoron is taking more time to deliver the verdict, reports suggest that it could have something to do with a 12-page letter issued by a court-appointed monitor claiming that parts of President Trump’s financial disclosure appeared incomplete or inconsistent.
Attorneys for President Trump, who maintains his innocence and has called the case a political witch hunt, have disputed the monitor’s characterization of the financial disclosures.
The letter from the monitor, former judge Barbara Jones, pointed out errors on seven disclosure forms, three inconsistencies, and five clerical errors.
President Trump’s attorneys have said the issues flagged by Ms. Jones are immaterial amid the thousands of pages of financial data she has received, which include Trump Organization financial disclosures to third parties, documents related to transactions, bank statements, and all manner of paperwork related to taxes.
Trump attorney Clifford Robert alleged in a letter to Justice Engoron that Ms. Jones’s report, which was issued just days before the expected Jan. 31 verdict, had two basic objectives: one to ensure that the monitor continues to receive “exorbitant” fees (over $2.6 million and counting), and the other to justify continued oversight of President Trump’s business empire.
By Tom Ozimek
