Trump attorney wants to propose a 'counter-judgment' in $355M civil fraud case: court docs
Former President Donald Trump’s attorney Wednesday demanded the chance to propose a “counter-judgement” in his client’s $355 million civil fraud trial, court records show.
Clifford Robert filed a letter in the New York City civil court addressed to Justice Arthur Engoron complaining of the landmark ruling that also banned Trump from doing business in the state for three years.
Robert argues Trump was “deprived” the chance to speak out against the ruling before it was filed.
“Because the decision ordinarily entails more complicated relief, the instruction contemplates notice to the opponent so that both parties may either agree on a draft or prepare counter proposals to be settled before the court,” Robert argues.
“Defendants therefore request that the Court set a return date for the Proposed Judgment that affords Defendants sufficient time to submit a proposed counter-judgment.”
Robert signs his letter with a “respectfully,” which represents a sharp shift in tone from the outraged notice he sent Engoron earlier this month accusing the judge of “unprecedented, inappropriate and troubling” antics.
Engoron slapped back to that message with a scathing letter of his own in which he called Robert’s letter “completely out of bounds.”
“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,” Engoron wrote.
“That whole approach is getting old.”
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The next time the public heard from Engoron about the case was when he issued his ruling against Trump, his two sons and former CFO Allen Weisselberg, all of whom have been found liable of defrauding investors by inflating Trump Organization assets.
Trump has decried the ruling and vowed to appeal, but his financial hands are legally tied by the presence of a court-appointed monitor keeping an eye on his business dealings and a looming deadline to come up with cash or bond.
"If he ends up losing on appeal, Trump will have to pay both the pre-judgment and the post-judgment interest," University of Michigan business law professor Will Thomas told ABC News. "It's a lot of money,"