Trump asks judge to delay New York civil trial amid piling legal troubles
Kaelan Deese
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Former President Donald Trump asked a New York state judge to delay a trial that could reap costly ramifications for his family business, the Trump Organization.
Trump’s lawyers made a late request Tuesday evening that Justice Arthur F. Engoron delay the start of Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James‘s trial against his family business over alleged bank and insurance fraud. The civil trial is slated to begin Oct. 2 and could serve as the start of a busy season in court, with Trump facing four separate criminal cases as he attempts to campaign for the 2024 presidency.
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The filing requested the trial be “briefly” delayed until three weeks after Engoron rules on both sides’ requests for summary judgments, which seek decisions on various legal questions without the need for a trial to take place.
Trump alleged James ignored a June appeals court ruling that found some of her claims were based on transactions that were outside of the statute of limitations.
“A trial of this magnitude should not begin in chaos,” his attorneys wrote. “The court and the defendants are entitled to know the claims and issues to be tried sufficiently in advance to prepare adequately for trial.”
James’s office sent a separate filing early in the day asking for legal sanctions against Trump and two co-defendants in the case, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, arguing their legal teams made the same “frivolous” argument five times.
The attorney general has also asked the judge to fine Trump and his sons $10,000 apiece each time their lawyers make additional “frivolous” filings.
James is seeking $250 million in damages for the case overall, and Trump’s attorneys vehemently deny the charges or any wrongdoing on the former president’s part.
Trump is facing the prospects of three criminal trials commencing in March: one over his alleged attempts to subvert the 2020 election, another over his alleged election interference attempts in a Georgia racketeering case, and another in New York over allegedly falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election.
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When asked by Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday whether Trump would withdraw from the 2024 race if prosecutors offered to drop the charges in a deal, Trump said he had “absolutely no interest.”
“No, no, if they came to me and they would do that, they would make that deal in two seconds — in two seconds,” Trump said. “I have no interest in it. These are corrupt people.”