NYC Judge Engoron says Trump blew chance, can’t personally deliver closing arguments at fraud trial

NEW YORK — Donald Trump can’t personally deliver closing arguments at his New York fraud trial because he refused to abide by “reasonable, lawful limits” set by the court, Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron told his lawyers on Wednesday.

After making the highly unusual request last week, the former president blew multiple chances to assure the court he’d play fair, thereby forfeiting the opportunity to speak himself, Engoron said in a string of emails to Trump’s defense team included in court documents.

“Not having heard from you by the third extended deadline (noon today), I assume that Mr. Trump will not agree to the reasonable, lawful limits I have imposed as a precondition to giving a closing statement above and beyond those given by his attorneys, and that, therefore, he will not be speaking in court tomorrow,” Engoron wrote Wednesday.

Trump lawyer Chris Kise wrote Engoron and lawyers for the New York attorney general on Jan. 4 to say the current Republican front-runner in the presidential race planned to deliver part of the defense’s summation in the case threatening his family real estate empire. AG Letitia James opposed the unheard-of request, but Engoron said he would allow Trump to say his piece if he promised not to veer outside of issues relevant to the case.

“He may not seek to introduce new evidence. He may not ‘testify.’ He may not comment on irrelevant matters. In particular, and without limitation, he may not deliver a campaign speech, and he may not impugn myself, my staff, plaintiff, plaintiff’s staff, or the New York State court system, none of which is relevant to this case,” the judge said in a Jan. 5 email.

Any violation of the rules, Engoron said, would result in him cutting off and admonishing Trump without hesitation. He said he’d fine him $50,000 if he violated a limited gag order prohibiting him from commenting on Engoron’s staff, which Trump’s been fined $15,000 for breaking twice.

Kise on Tuesday told the judge Trump wouldn’t agree to the “untenable” ground rules prohibiting criticisms of the AG, imploring the court to let Trump riff without limits. The judge refused, extending the deadline another few hours.

Trump’s lawyer then asked for yet another extension and to push back closing arguments in light of the death of his wife Melania’s mother, Amalija Knavs. Engoron denied that early Wednesday while sending Trump his condolences, pointing out the massive security precautions taken ahead of his court appearances and giving him another few hours to decide.

After Kise declined to assure the judge Trump would abide, Engoron urged the lawyer to make a decision immediately.

“This is very unfair, your Honor,” Kise wrote back. “You are not allowing President Trump, who has been wrongfully demeaned and belittled by an out of control, politically motivated Attorney General, to speak about the things that must be spoken about.”

In a final email before rejecting the request, the judge told Kise, “I won’t debate this yet again. Take it or leave it. Now or never. You have until noon, seven minutes from now. I WILL NOT GRANT ANY FURTHER EXTENSIONS.”

The judge is set to issue a written verdict in the coming weeks on six outstanding claims levied against Trump, his eldest sons, Eric and Don Jr., former Trump Organization finance chief Allen Weisselberg, and controller Jeffrey McConney in the September 2022 lawsuit brought by James. There is no jury due to the nature of the case as determined by New York law.

Engoron decided Trump and his crew were liable for the top fraud claim in September before the monthslong trial began, finding that undisputed evidence showed they engaged in persistent and repeated fraud for years by illegally inflating the value of Trump-owned properties — including Mar-a-Lago in Florida and his Wall Street skyscraper— by billions of dollars in paperwork submitted to banks and lenders as they sought lucrative loan terms.

The outstanding claims Engoron is still to rule on allege Trump and company conspired to commit wrongdoing, committed insurance fraud and drew up bogus paperwork.

Engoron’s pretrial ruling ordered Trump and his crew stripped of certificates required to run a New York business, which won’t go into effect until they’ve exhausted their appeals, among other penalties. AG Letitia James wants Engoron to next order them to pay back $370 million in illegal gains and to permanently bar Trump, Weisselberg and McConney from New York’s real estate industry, among other severe penalties. She wants Trump’s sons banned from the industry for five years.

Throughout the trial, the defense argued that financial institutions that did business with Trump did their own due diligence and always got paid back, and that the AG failed to prove Trump and his accused associates intentionally committed fraud. They say the statements in question actually lowballed Trump’s net worth and that any errors were unintentional.

Trump, who railed against officials in the case under oath at the trial, has amped up his attacks on Truth Social as the trial nears a close. In a Tuesday video he chastised “the corrupt, Soros-backed, New York State Attorney General Tish James-controlled Judge Engoron.”

In response to Engoron’s decision, Trump’s legal affairs spokeswoman and sometimes lawyer Alina Habba said, “Is anyone surprised anymore?”

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