Trump’s fraud trial judge fires back at defence attorneys: ‘That whole approach is getting old’

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Judge Arthur Engoron is pushing Trump lawyers, the state attorney general’s office and the Manhattan district attorney for “anything” they can tell him about former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg reportedly negotiating a plea deal with New York City prosecutors for his testimony in the civil fraud trial. Lawyers for Mr Trump’s adult sons and co-defendants called the request “unprecedented, inappropriate and troubling.” Alina Habba – who represents Weisselberg in the civil case but is not his criminal defence lawyer – also declined to provide the judge with any information about his plea negotiations and said no further action was needed. “However, your misleading response grossly mischaracterizes the letter that I wrote, and I feel compelled to respond.” open image in gallery New York County Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron He accused them of launching a straw-man attack against him for considering the article’s contents as fact, but said that if Weisselberg “publicly confesses to having committed perjury about a significant matter in the case before me, or if he pleads guilty to such perjury at any time before I issue my final decision, I will research and consider what the law allows.” “You and your co-counsel have been questioning my impartiality since the early days of this case, presumably because I sometimes rule against your clients,” he added. open image in gallery A courtroom sketch depicts former Trump Organization chief financial officer testifying in a criminal tax fraud trial in New York in 2022 Last year, Mr Trump’s former top financial lieutenant spent 100 days in Rikers Island jail after pleading guilty to tax-related crimes in 2022.