Trump is attempting to at least slam the brakes on the New York AG case against him by taking on the judge. It’s extremely unlikely to work for a number of good reasons.
Over the course of several court hearings, Trump’s previous lawyer in the case, Alina Habba, frequently made snippy remarks directed at the court and his law clerk—questioning their ability to make fair decisions and voicing expectations that he’d continually rule against her client.
But the Trumps appear to have scored something of a victory this summer, when the First Department appellate court agreed that some business deals might be too old for the AG to include in this lawsuit and instructed Engoron to draw a cutoff. The judge hasn’t done that yet and was expected to do so in the coming weeks, but the Trump lawyers jumped the gun—asking for a three week delay in the trial and an immediate cutoff clarification from Engoron.
According to New York state law, judges who get hit with this kind of lawsuit are typically represented by the AG’s office. But that would naturally create a conflict here, because the judge is overseeing a case involving the AG. So the court system itself is providing his lawyers, and he’s expected to take no stance at all as the case makes its way through a five-person appellate panel in the next two weeks.
“Is it a Trump tactic, one more of these tactics to get rid of the judge? He’s done it with all the rest of the judges. He finds reasons to try and knock them off the case,” Peress said.