“This judge’s bizarre behavior has no place in our judicial system,” she wrote
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) sent a letter to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct expressing “serious concerns” about the judge overseeing a civil fraud trial against former President Donald Trump and the Trump Organization.
“This judge’s bizarre behavior has no place in our judicial system,” she wrote, describing “inappropriate bias” and “judicial intemperance” in her Nov. 10 letter.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing President Trump for defrauding the state by artificially inflating his net worth in a trial that began on Oct. 2. A week before the trial, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron had granted the attorney general’s office a summary judgment in their favor, finding President Trump liable for fraud.
As such, the bench trial—there is no jury under the statute prosecutors are using—will only deal with what penalties President Trump will need to face. Ms. James is asking for $250 million in damages and to bar the former president and other executives from doing business in the state for five years.
President Trump has attended the trial regularly, giving updates to the press when in court. In recent weeks, his attorneys have clashed with the judge, sometimes resulting in drawn-out arguments in court, with the defense attorneys accusing him of bias as he often allows the prosecution to ask questions he overrules for the defense, and other issues.
Ms. Stefanik echoed these concerns, pointing out that the defendant is a leading candidate for the presidency.
“It appears the judicial system is being politicized to affect the outcome of the campaign,” she wrote.
“Judge Engoron has displayed a clear judicial bias against the defendant throughout the case, breaking several rules in the New York Code of Judicial Conduct.”
Ms. Stefanik asks that the commission sanction Justice Engoron to “bring back credibility to our great state’s legal system.”
Bias?
Ms. Stefanik listed several items she believed pointed to bias, beginning a year ago, before the trial, when the judge told President Trump’s attorney that President Trump was “just a bad guy.”
By Catherine Yang
