Elise Stefanik Files Official Judicial Complaint Against Judge in Trump Fraud Trial for ‘Bias’ and ‘Bizarre Behavior’

The third-ranking House Republican, Elise Stefanik, filed an ethics complaint Friday, calling for the judge hearing President Trump’s fraud trial at New York, Arthur Engoron, to be removed for what she claims constitutes “bias” and “bizarre behavior” in the courtroom.Ms. Stefanik, according to her complaint, has “serious concerns about the inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance” of Judge Engoron, echoing Mr. Trump’s own complaints on social media. She points to an incident in which Judge Engoron said that Mr. Trump is “just a bad guy.”Ms. Stefanik is referencing an exchange in which Mr. Trump’s attorneys argued he is a member of a protected class, a term referring to religious affiliation, race, sex, or a medical disability. Judge Engoron had said during proceeding that, even if Attorney General Letitia James “has a thing against” Mr. Trump, that is not “unlawful discrimination.”“He’s just a bad guy she should go after as the chief law enforcement officer of the state,” Judge Engoron said.Ms. James is prosecuting the Trump Organization for fraud. Mr. Trump’s business was found to have exaggerated the value of its properties for years in order to get more favorable loans and insurance policies. Ms. James is now seeking to bar the company from operating in New York. The current trial proceedings are to determine penalties. Ms. James is seeking $250 million. In her complaint, Ms. Stefanik takes issue with how Judge Engoron “entered summary judgment against the defendant before the trial even began, without witnesses, other evidence, and cross-examination.”She also expressed disapproval of the fact that Mr. Trump’s trial is a bench trial and not a jury trial. Because Ms. James requested a bench trial and Mr. Trump’s attorneys did not request a jury trial in this case, the case proceeded as a bench trial, which so far has gone poorly for the 45th president.Between these complaints and others, Ms. Stefanik argues that Judge Engoron has displayed “clear judicial bias” and should recuse himself. She later accuses Judge Engoron of “lawlessness” and says he should not be allowed to rule on Mr. Trump’s case.Judge Engoron and his principal law clerk, Allison Greenfield. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images“If Judge Engoron can railroad a billionaire New York businessman, a former President of the United States, and the leading presidential candidate, just imagine what he could do to all New Yorkers,” Ms. Stefanik wrote.The letter is addressed to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. It is a way for Ms. Stefanik to further show her allegiance to Mr. Trump.Ms. Stefanik also railed against what she calls the “un-American” gag order that Judge Engoron has imposed on Mr. Trump and later on his attorneys after Mr. Trump attacked the judge’s principal law clerk, Allison Greenfield, in an online post and alleged bias against him. Mr. Trump and his attorneys have vociferously objected to the presence of Ms. Greenfield, who they claim has contributed to Democratic organizations in excess of the maximum allowed by New York judicial conduct rules.In court, Judge Engoron has defended his right to confer with Ms. Greenfield, who sits next to him on the bench. He has fined Mr. Trump $15,000 in total for calling Ms. Greenfield, without substantiation, “Schumer’s girlfriend.” After Mr. Trump’s attorneys complained about Ms. Greenfield, saying that her communicating with the judge created the “perception of bias,” Judge Engoron gagged them as well. “The threat of, and actual, violence resulting from heated political rhetoric is well-documented,” Judge Engoron wrote in a court order, adding, “My chambers have been inundated with hundreds of harassing and threatening phone calls, voicemails, emails, letters, and packages” since the trial began.In response to a request for comment from the Sun, the New York State Office of Court Administration’s communication Director, Al Baker, said, “Judge Engoron’s actions and rulings in this matter are all part of the public record and speak for themselves. It is inappropriate to comment further.”The letter from Ms. Stefanik echoes Mr. Trump’s own statement made on Truth Social shortly before Ms. Stefanik released her letter, where Mr. Trump said, “Judge Engoron just did whatever the Corrupt Attorney General told him to do.”Mr. Trump went on to claim that Judge Engoron is a “puppet” of Ms. James and that “HE and LETITIA JAMES COMMITTED THE FRAUD, I DIDN’T.” Mr. Trump further claimed that his club and estate, Mar-a-Lago, an approximately 17-acre property, is worth between $850 million and $1.7 billion.

Elise Stefanik Files Official Judicial Complaint Against Judge in Trump Fraud Trial for ‘Bias’ and ‘Bizarre Behavior’

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