A final-minute authorized problem by Donald Trump ’s legal professionals may disrupt a trial scheduled for subsequent month within the enterprise fraud lawsuit towards the previous president and his firm by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

A state appeals court docket decide on Thursday ordered a possible postponement of the non-jury trial, scheduled to start out Oct. 2, after the previous president’s legal professionals filed a lawsuit accusing the trial decide, Arthur Engoron, of repeatedly abusing his authority.

Justice David Friedman, a decide on the state’s intermediate appellate court docket, granted an interim keep of the trial and ordered the complete appeals court docket to contemplate the lawsuit on an expedited foundation. The court docket indicated it could difficulty a call the week of Sept. 25, that means the trial may nonetheless begin on schedule relying on the way it guidelines.

Among the problems raised by Trump’s legal professionals had been Engoron’s terse refusal to grant their latest request for a three-week trial delay, which he dominated as “completely without merit,” and lingering uncertainty concerning the trial’s scope as a result of he has but to adjust to a June appeals court docket’s order that he decide which claims within the fraud lawsuit are barred by the statute of limitations.

Other proceedings in James’ lawsuit towards Trump and the Trump Organization will proceed as scheduled, Friedman stated. They embody oral arguments slated for Sept. 22 on requests from James’ workplace and Trump’s legal professionals that Engoron resolve on some or all the case earlier than the trial begins.

Engoron declined remark by way of a court docket spokesperson.

In a press release, James stated: “We are confident in our case and will be ready for trial.”

James’ lawsuit alleges Trump defrauded banks, insurers and others with annual monetary statements that inflated the worth of his skyscrapers, golf programs and different property and boosted his web price by as a lot as $3.6 billion. Her lawsuit seeks $250 million in penalties and a ban on Trump doing enterprise in New York.

Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination in subsequent 12 months’s presidential election, has denied wrongdoing.

In sworn testimony given for the lawsuit in April, Trump stated he didn’t assume his monetary statements could be taken severely as a result of they've a disclaimer that claims they shouldn’t be trusted. He instructed James, a Democrat, “You don’t have a case and you should drop this case.”

“Do you know the banks were fully paid? Do you know the banks made a lot of money?” Trump testified. “Do you know I don’t believe I ever got even a default notice, and even during COVID, the banks were all paid? And yet you’re suing on behalf of banks, I guess. It’s crazy. The whole case is crazy.”

The lawsuit towards Engoron, filed below a provision of state regulation generally known as Article 78, is Trump’s newest assault on judges presiding over his many authorized instances.

On Monday, Trump’s legal professionals requested the federal decide presiding over his election subversion case in Washington to recuse herself, saying U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ’s previous public statements about him and his connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the U.S. Capitol name into query whether or not she may be truthful. That request is pending.

Before that, Trump additionally sought to take away the decide in his Manhattan hush-money prison case. Trump’s legal professionals argued Judge Juan Manuel Merchan is biased as a result of he’s given cash to Democrats and his daughter is a celebration guide, however Merchan final month rejected their request to recuse himself, saying he's sure of his “ability to be fair and impartial.”

Trump has proven enmity for Engoron prior to now, lashing out at him on social media as “vicious, biased, and mean” after a sequence of unfavorable rulings from the decide, together with a contempt order that value Trump $110,000 for not turning over proof to James’ workplace in a well timed style.

Trump’s legal professionals fought unsuccessfully final 12 months to have James’ lawsuit moved from Engoron’s courtroom to the court docket’s Commercial Division, which is about as much as deal with complicated company litigation.

Engoron has stated the trial may take as much as three months.

Trump’s legal professionals have requested Engoron to grant abstract judgment dismissing the case completely earlier than the trial begins. They argue that lots of the lawsuit’s allegations are barred by the statute of limitations and that James has no standing to sue as a result of the entities Trump supposedly defrauded “have never complained, and indeed have profited from their business dealings” with him.

James’ workplace has requested Engoron to grant abstract judgment in its favor on considered one of seven claims in her lawsuit - that Trump and his firm dedicated fraud.

To rule, Engoron wants solely to reply two questions, James’ workplace argued: whether or not Trump’s annual monetary statements had been false or deceptive, and whether or not he and the Trump Organization used these statements whereas conducting enterprise transactions.

Trump will not be anticipated to testify in court docket if the case goes to trial, however video recordings of his depositions may very well be performed.

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