Just another developer fraudster: Report says Trump's judge isn't playing political game

The New York City judge who holds former president Donald Trump's financial future in his hands isn't fazed because he’s taken on developers trying to flout the law before, according to a new report.

“I do not consider this trial political at all,” Judge Arthur Engoron told the Wall Street Journal. The only question, he said, is whether Trump violated state law.

The former taxi driver, 74, has already proven his mettle both during the trial — where Trump faces a $250 million fraud lawsuit from Attorney General Letitia James — and before.

Engoron hasn’t been afraid to fine Trump for repeatedly violating a gag order prohibiting speech against courtroom staff — despite being a staunch supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union’s free speech protections — or to lay down the law with the former president’s lawyers, the report notes.

Nor has Trump’s former residence in the White House stopped Engoron from ruling him liable for fraud over property valuations and standing by that decision.

When Trump’s lawyer Chris Kise Wednesday tried to argue $168 million in lost interest didn’t constitute “ill-gotten gains,” Engoron snapped back, "I decided.”

Engoron has also showcased courtroom courage before Trump sat down before him.

In Engoron’s courtroom, developers in New York City have repeatedly been denied the thing they covet most: the right to build high rises, court records show.

Engoron ruled against plans for an Upper West Side skyscraper, a South Street Seaport high-rise and a waterfront mega-development, local reports show.

When he chastised city lawyers he accused of pushing the downtown develop under the false impression they could do “anything we want,” New Yorkers in the courtroom reportedly clapped and cheered.

Richard Leland, a Manhattan realty lawyer familiar with Engoron’s courtroom manner, told the Wall Street Journal Engoron isn’t really scared of any risk.

“I don’t think he’s looking over his shoulder all the time as some judges are,” Leland said. “I don’t think he’s afraid to go out on a limb.”

Talking straight has never been a problem for Engoron, the Wall Street Journal notes. As evidence, see exhibit A, a response he levied in a civil court case between former employee and employer.

“The earth is frying; buildings are collapsing; the Middle East is in flames; the Covid-19 pandemic is raging; and almost half the country does not accept the legitimacy of the current president,” Engoron wrote in his decision. “The time has come to end this legal bloodletting.”