Former President Donald Trump faces a key legal test this week as he seeks to delay his New York civil trial over alleged bank and insurance fraud at the Trump Organization, which he defended as a "great company."
The case is slated for an Oct. 2 trial start and follows a suit brought by Attorney General Letitia James last year against Trump's family business and three of his adult children, alleging they inflated his business assets to gain favorable loans and tax benefits.
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"It is a great company that has been slandered and maligned by this politically motivated Witch Hunt. It is very unfair, and I call for help from the highest Courts in New York State, or the Federal System, to intercede. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The looming trial was temporarily paused last week when Trump sued James and New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the civil case, according to the New York Times.
As part of the lawsuit against Engoron, his lawyer Chris Kise pointed to a June appeals court ruling that removed his daughter, Ivanka Trump, from the list of defendants. Kise contends that the ruling should effectively toss out the claims against the former president as well.
James's team argues that the removal of Trump's daughter has little impact on the core of her case, that Trump allegedly lied about his net worth by billions of dollars in his annual financial statements.
Another complicated legal question surrounds James's argument about Trump's financial statements. She argues his statement constituted a series of "continued wrongs" because he submitted them annually to banks after receiving the loans. However, the appeals court noted that the continuing wrong doctrine, similar to what people understand as the statute of limitations, did not extend the legal deadline for filing the case.
Trump's lawyers asked Engoron to delay the trial until the relevant questions have been answered, saying they don't know who is going on trial, or for what, until they're answered. Engoron is expected to rule Tuesday over which of James's claims can proceed at the trial. But whether the trial happens on time depends on a Thursday ruling over Trump's lawsuit against Engoron.
James's office is adamant that the trial should proceed on Oct. 2, citing the need to keep on schedule given that Trump is a defendant across four criminal trials and is facing 91 felony criminal charges across each of them combined.
“Even a brief stay of the October 2 trial date would likely wreak havoc on the trial schedule not only in this proceeding but also in scheduled trials in other courts that involve petitioner Donald J. Trump,” James’s office wrote in a filing last week.
James is seeking $250 million in damages for the case overall, and Trump's attorneys vehemently deny the charges or any wrongdoing on the former president's part.
Trump, pursuing the Republican nomination for the 2024 election amid a piling legal schedule, is also slated to head to a civil defamation trial on Jan. 15 in a case brought by Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll.
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The former president's criminal trial in the federal 2020 election subversion case is slated for March 4, the day before Super Tuesday. His hush money criminal case is scheduled for March 25, and his classified records trial is set for May 20.
A fourth potential trial date in the Georgia racketeering case has not been established yet. Trump has pleaded not guilty in each case.