Former President Donald Trump—already feeling the heat of a million suns after a barrage of criminal indictments this summer—asked a New York state judge to delay an upcoming trial that could bleed his corporate empire dry.
Late Tuesday night, Trump’s lawyers requested that Justice Arthur F. Engoron push back the start of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ trial against the family for bank and insurance fraud, which is set to start on Oct. 2.
Clifford S. Robert and three other defense lawyers argued why the judge should give them more time—pointing to the fact that the judge still hasn’t made changes to the case after a recent appellate decision.
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In June, an appellate court decided to dismiss Ivanka Trump from the case. But in doing so, it also drew a cutoff that made a whole batch of official accusations too dated to enforce. Now, Trump’s lawyers say that James and Justice Engoron still haven’t figured out how to whittle down the lawsuit’s claims.
“The court and the parties must simply perform the ministerial task of identifying the respective dates of accrual for each of the NYAG’s claims… and then applying the bar date,” the defense lawyers wrote.
They warned that having a trial before figuring that out could lead to “massive waste of judicial and party resources,” especially if an appeal on technical grounds leads to an entire retrial.
As such, the request aims to do one of two things: potentially force the AG to pare down her lawsuit or make the upcoming trial look like a potential liability. It also comes just days after the AG’s office asked the judge to grant them summary judgment—a total victory without a trial.
Either way, the lawyers drafted a proposed order that would give them at least three weeks to prepare for the trial—apparently much-needed extra time. Their client is facing a host of other legal issues across the country, ranging from criminal charges in New York and D.C. to Atlanta and Miami.
Trump is expected to spend much of the late winter and early spring in court facing possible prison time, just as he’s trying to juggle a 2024 presidential campaign.
