In his order on Monday, Engoron cancelled those certificates. But he also expanded on the punishment that James had sought, cancelling those of any entity controlled by Trump’s sons. While Trump could ask a higher court to overturn the ruling, and has sued the judge himself over his legal decisions, the outlook is stark if he is unsuccessful.
Kise said in court that the ruling could oust the sons, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, from their New York homes, which he said are owned through the types of limited liability companies that Engoron dissolved. Kise also asked whether the ruling meant that Trump would have to sell assets including Trump Tower and 40 Wall St, a downtown commercial property, or whether they could be managed by an independent receiver who the judge said would oversee the dissolution of the cancelled companies.
Engoron did not provide a clear response. After huddling with his law clerk, Allison Greenfield, he told Kise that he appreciated his concern and understood the question.
“I’m not prepared to issue a ruling right now, but we will take that up in various contexts I’m sure,” he said. He granted Kise’s request for 30 days to devise a plan for implementing the order.
A lawyer from the attorney general’s office, Kevin Wallace, said that state lawyers had not worked out what they still needed to prove at trial, though he noted that the judge had yet to grant the other punishments they had sought, including imposing a fine of as much as US$250 million (NZ$422m) or barring the former president and his sons from running a business in the state.
The former president still has options. Already, his lawyers have sued Engoron himself, arguing that he ignored an appeals court ruling in June that they contend should gut the attorney general’s case. They argued that the judge ignored a key deadline that should have disqualified much of the attorney general’s evidence. They have asked the appeals court to delay the trial and to order the judge to implement the June ruling.
The appeals court is expected to rule as soon as Thursday. If Trump’s lawyers are unsuccessful, they could also appeal Engoron’s Tuesday order.
As matters stand, Trump’s lawyers are left facing a severe punishment for their client — the scope of which even they do not fully understand — and a trial at which James’ lawyers could exact yet more damage.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Written by: Jonah E. Bromwich
Photographs by: Doug Mills, AP
©2023 THE NEW YORK TIMES
