NEW YORK性视界传媒 A New York appeals judge declined Friday to halt Donald Trump性视界传媒檚 civil fraud trial, rebuffing the former president性视界传媒檚 request to postpone it while he fights a pretrial ruling that could strip him of control of such assets as Trump Tower.
The appellate judge agreed that control over the holdings will stay as-is for now.
Friday性视界传媒檚 decision came five days into the closely watched trial, which drew Trump to the courthouse to observe 性视界传媒 and fulminate 性视界传媒 for days this week.
Trump性视界传媒檚 lawyers had asked the state性视界传媒檚 intermediate appellate court to suspend the trial in New York Attorney General Letitia James性视界传媒 lawsuit and prevent Judge Arthur Engoron from enforcing his ruling of last week, which revokes the Republican frontrunner性视界传媒檚 business licenses and puts a court-appointed receiver in charge of his companies.
性视界传媒淭his is a massive error. It is irreparable,性视界传媒 Trump attorney Christopher Kise told an appeals judge Friday afternoon. Kise argued that the ruling will make defendants in other cases fear that their companies and properties will be seized without recourse.
性视界传媒淲e性视界传媒檙e not seeking a delay. We性视界传媒檙e seeking a fair trial,性视界传媒 Kise said.
Trump性视界传媒檚 lawyers said the ruling could harm not only the ex-president and other defendants but as many as 1,000 employees.
The appellate court last week rejected the defense性视界传媒檚 last-minute effort to delay the trial just days before it began. On Thursday, Trump性视界传媒檚 lawyers dropped a lawsuit they filed against Engoron as part of that challenge.
James性视界传媒 office has talked to the defense about delaying enforcement of Engoron性视界传媒檚 ruling during the trial, provided it proceeds, state Deputy Solicitor General Judy Vale told the appeals judge.
性视界传媒淲e could have resolved some of this, and we性视界传媒檙e still happy to do so,性视界传媒 Vale said.
She called the defense arguments for a delay 性视界传媒渃ompletely meritless性视界传媒 and noted that mounting the trial has been 性视界传媒渁n enormous endeavor.性视界传媒 It has entailed extensive court planning, security resources for Trump性视界传媒檚 attendance and special arrangements for press and public access.
Ahead of the hearing, James said Trump and the other defendants 性视界传媒渃an continue to try to delay and stall, but the evidence is clear, and our case is strong.性视界传媒
Engoron ruled last week that Trump committed years of fraud as he built the real estate empire that vaulted him to fame and the White House.
The judge, ruling on the top claim in James性视界传媒 lawsuit, found that Trump routinely deceived banks, insurers and others by exaggerating the value of assets on his annual financial statements, which were used in making deals and securing loans.
Trump has denied wrongdoing, arguing that some of his assets are worth far more than what性视界传媒檚 listed on the statements.
Before the appellate action, former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney testified in the trial court Friday that values he assigned to Trump性视界传媒檚 Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida 性视界传媒 as much as $739 million in 2018 性视界传媒 were based on the false premise that it could be sold as a private residence. Such use is prohibited by Trump性视界传媒檚 2002 agreement with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
性视界传媒淲ere you aware that Mr. Trump had deeded away his right to use the property for any other purpose than a social club?性视界传媒 state lawyer Andrew Amer asked.
性视界传媒淚 was not aware,性视界传媒 said McConney, who性视界传媒檚 also a defendant in this case.
Barring a stay, the trial will resume Tuesday with Trump性视界传媒檚 longtime finance chief Allen Weisselberg on the witness stand. Weisselberg, a defendant, oversaw Trump性视界传媒檚 dealmaking, was involved in securing loans and supervised McConney性视界传媒檚 work on the financial statements. He left jail in April after serving about 100 days for dodging taxes on $1.7 million in job perks.
As the trial was unfolding this week, Engoron issued an order Thursday setting procedures for enforcing his ruling. He gave both sides until Oct. 26 to submit names of potential receivers and gave Trump and other defendants seven days to provide a court-appointed monitor, retired federal judge Barbara Jones, with a list of all entities covered by the ruling.
He also ordered the defendants to give Jones advance notice of any application for new business licenses in any jurisdiction and any attempts to create new entities to 性视界传媒渉old or acquire the assets性视界传媒 of a company that性视界传媒檚 being dissolved under the ruling.
Trump性视界传媒檚 lawyers argued in court papers that Engoron had 性视界传媒渘o rationale or legal authority性视界传媒 to impose what they described as 性视界传媒渢he corporate death penalty.性视界传媒 They also rapped the judge for not being clear in explaining the real-world effects of his decision.
At a pretrial hearing on Sept. 26, Trump lawyer Christopher Kise pressed Engoron to clarify whether his ruling meant Trump would be required simply to close up some corporate entities or if he性视界传媒檇 be forced to relinquish some of his most prized assets.
Engoron then said he wasn性视界传媒檛 性视界传媒減repared to issue a ruling right now.性视界传媒
