It's a mysterious habeas corpus.
A shirtless photo splashed in an alumni newsletter run by Judge Arthur Engoron is being pilloried by some of former President Donald Trump's faithful, while the judge himself refused to confirm or deny the snap in question was his corpus.
"Sorry I can't comment. Bye," the judge told Raw Story after being informed about the Wheatley School Alumni Association newsletter and the flash of skin in some of its earlier issues.
The photo under the caption "BonusTorsoPhoto" was plucked from the archives and scrutinized by @MarcoPolo501c3 which dubs itself as "The opposition research group for the American People."
A flurry of highly critical responses to the various tweeted pics were cast toward the judge.
A breakdown of the pics were also laid bare (replete with side-by-side comparisons of Engoron in a blue tank top to the photo of the body believed to be him from the neck down) by a website The Post Millennial and covered by Newsweek.
The judge has been front and center of the political zeitgeist du jour for his role in ruling from the bench during Trump's $250 million fraud trial in Lower Manhattan, pitting him as well as his executive kids against Attorney General Letitia James' prosecutors.
The images of Engoron's alleged torso date back to issues from the pandemic ; around 2020 and 2021 and also showcase remote interactions with screen grabs of Zoom meetings.
The 74-year-old judge, who graduated from the institution based in Old Westbury, New York back in 1967.
The newsletter also features a headshot of the judge with a message to the readers: "Please send me your autobiography before someone else sends me your obituary."
Already, Engoron has ruled that Trump and his company the Trump Organization were liable for committing fraud for years by exaggerating his bottom line and hyping the the value of assets on financial statements to secure sweeter loans and deals.
Since then, the judge and specifically the former president and his attorneys have been sparring in court.
At one point the judge asked Trump's defense attorney Christopher Kise, "Can you control your client?" "This is not a political rally. This is a courtroom."
When the trial commences, Engoron could decide the amount Trump must pay as well as dissolve some of his companies.
