Trump team moves for a mistrial in N.Y. civil fraud case

Former President Donald Trump moved for a mistrial in his New York civil case on Wednesday, alleging rampant bias and departures from standard judicial practice.

The court filing pivots on actions by Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the case and will decide whether the Trump Organization committed fraud to gain favorable terms on loans and insurance. He will also determine appropriate penalties.

Defense lawyers said Judge Engoron imposed a gag order on the Trump team and frequently cuts off attorneys in court while invoking his pre-trial determination that fraud occurred. 

“There can be no doubt of the public perception of bias in this case,” wrote Mr. Trump’s lawyers. “Even commentators who are politically opposed to President Trump have noted the biased nature of the proceedings and the astonishing departures from ordinary standards of impartiality.” 

The lawyers said the judge had a penchant for posting articles about Mr. Trump and his legal troubles in a newsletter for The Wheatley School, of which he is an alumnus. They also complained about the status afforded to his law clerk, who sits on the bench alongside Judge Engoron. 

Mr. Trump posted a photograph of the law clerk with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer to allege political bias, resulting in a gag order from the court.

In their filing, defense attorneys said the clerk’s “unprecedented role in the trial and extensive, public partisan activities, would cause even a casual observer to question the court’s partiality.”

“Thus, only the grant of a mistrial can salvage what is left of the rule of law,” they wrote.

Mr. Trump, his eldest sons and their family real estate business are named in the lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James that alleges the Trumps submitted fraudulent financial statements to lenders. 

Mr. Trump and his attorneys say banks happily worked with the Trump business and made money in doing so. The ex-president says, if anything, he disadvantaged himself by undervaluing his properties and pointed to a disclaimer on statements that urges lenders to conduct their own due diligence.

One of Mr. Trump’s lawyers, Alina Habba, had signaled over the weekend she planned to move for a mistrial “very soon.”