Judge Gives Trump Lawyers Second Chance in New York Trial Showdown

After exhausting a New York judge with incessant lying and legal delay games, the Trump family will get a second chance to answer a lawsuit from the New York Attorney General that threatens to bankrupt the real estate empire that bears the ex-president’s name.

“Whatever we do today, I am determined to start the trial on October 2, 2023, come hell or high water. And pardon my French,” Justice Arthur F. Engoron said in a Manhattan court on Wednesday.

After filing reality-defying court documents to defend the Trumps against Attorney General Letitia James’ bank fraud lawsuit, the increasingly large cadre of lawyers representing former President Donald Trump, his real estate empire, and the adult children he made executives there now have until mid-February to come up with better answers.

For example, that process could start with lawyers admitting that the Trump Organization actually exists—something Trump denied in a sworn, signed statement last week as part of his defense.

"In my 35 years practicing law, I have never, never... seen a pleading with such excess verbiage as the 300-page-or-so answers of the 15-or-so answers to the complaint," the judge remarked.

Wednesday’s court hearing promised to be quite the fight, with James’ office asking Engoron to take the rare step of sanctioning the Trumps’ lawyers. At one point, the judge took a break and jokingly asked everyone to reconvene “at high noon.” But after private discussions between the AG’s investigators and Trump lawyers, both sides agreed to re-file the paperwork.

The hearing also revealed that Trump’s legal team—which includes former Florida solicitor general Christopher Kise—has hired a former New York AG insider in what appears to be a personal stab at the office that has been a thorn in Trump’s side for a decade.

The Trump team now includes Armen Morian, who spent 13 years working these very types of cases until 2019 as a lawyer in the AG office’s “investor protection bureau.” At the hearing, Morian criticized his former employer for repeatedly seeking to sanction Trump’s lawyers over the past year, ending his critique with a cheeky comment that seemed to rile James’ team.

"I would implore you to reconsider that approach, because it's not a good look for our office," Morian said, emphasizing the fact that he was once on the side now targeting Trump.

Upon hearing that, the AG team began to pass notes back and forth and whisper into each other’s ears.