The judge in New York has rejected former President Trump’s request for a mistrial in his civil fraud case, where he alleged that the judge and his chief law clerk had introduced bias into the proceedings. Judge Arthur Engoron strongly criticized Trump’s mistrial motion on Friday, dismissing it as entirely baseless. Engoron defended his clerk’s political contributions and his own online posts, stating that they did not compromise the fairness of the trial.
According to The Hill, in a 6-page decision, Engoron stood by each of his rulings and accused Trump’s legal team of selectively presenting evidence of misconduct without providing the full context. He addressed a specific comment made during Trump’s testimony, emphasizing that the mistrial motion had omitted his subsequent statement expressing the intention to hear the former president answer questions.
Trump’s counsel also raised concerns about the judge sharing links about the case on his school alumni website. Engoron dismissed these objections, asserting that such actions had no impact on his ability to preside over the dispute fairly and impartially.
The mistrial motion targeted the judge’s clerk, suggesting that she had been given undue influence as a “co-judge” in the case. Engoron refuted this claim, stating that there was no such collaboration and defended the clerk’s participation in case-related discussions.
Trump’s legal team further accused the clerk of exceeding contribution limits with partisan political donations. Engoron defended the clerk, citing a judicial ethics opinion that clarified contribution limits did not apply to an appointee’s contributions to their own campaign. He criticized Trump’s lawyers for presenting arguments without proper context and dismissed attempts to link the clerk’s attendance at political events to the judge’s political standing, emphasizing that the clerk did not make rulings or issue orders.