'Cornered' Trump has 'lost before he started' in $250 million NYC fraud case: legal expert

Legal experts looking on from afar are calling Donald Trump's efforts to rid himself of the judge overseeing the $250 million fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James against his Trump Organization a ploy that will likely fail, but he has little choice because the case against him is so strong.

In interviews with the Daily Beast's Jose Pagliery, the move by Trump's lawyers to use an Article 78 to challenge Justice Arthur F. Engoron, claiming he can't be impartial, was filed way too early with one legal observer calling the former president's move "transparent," by which they meant yet another delaying tactic.

According to the Beast's Pagliery, "Engoron—who is known for keeping his cool—became much less willing to play along with what became obvious delay tactics," adding, "When the AG filed her lawsuit in September 2022, the case was immediately assigned to Engoron, who was already familiar with its long and arduous history. But Trump lawyers once again tried—and failed—to get the case moved to a judge in the commercial division."

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Noting that the judge has consistently shot down motions from Trump's legal team, the former president's lawyers are attempting to use that to prove bias and few think it will work.

According to Diane Peress, a former prosecutor who now teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, "It’s kind of transparent that they’re asking this as they ask for a three-week delay. It’s like, ‘That didn’t work, so let’s throw a wrench in the machinery.'"

Peress pointed out that the former president is doing all he can to antagonize judges with plans to later label adverse rulings as examples of bias.

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“He’s doing everything he can to provoke some kind of animosity and hostility with the judge,” she explained. “Harassing them on social media or bringing an Article 78, these are all different ways of provoking the judge into a position where you can show that the judge can’t be fair and impartial. This is just one more strategy.”

According to Brooklyn Law School professor Jayne Ressler, Article 78 filings are rare for a good reason.

“The idea is that they didn’t want to set up a scheme where you just bring an Article 78 against the judge and get a new judge. Otherwise, it would be so easy to say, ‘I don’t like how this case is going. Article 78!’ Then boom, you get a new judge,” she explained.

“He’s lost before he started. He’ll say he never got a fair shake and this is the perfect excuse. Any regular individual would do the opposite. But this is Trump. When the coffin is closed, he drills a hole,” Ressler added. “He’s literally cornered, so he might create a political ploy. So now, when he loses, this is his out.”

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