Trump Fraud Suit Will Stay Before Judge Who Held Him in Contempt
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
(Bloomberg) -- Former President Donald Trump lost his request to transfer New York’s fraud lawsuit against him and his company to a different court division in Manhattan, ensuring the case will remain before the same judge who once held him in contempt of court.
Most Read from Bloomberg
An administrative judge on Wednesday denied a motion by Trump and the Trump Organization to move the case the court’s Commercial Division rather than keep it before Justice Arthur Engoron, who repeatedly ruled against Trump in a fight over New York’s subpoenas before the suit was filed.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued last month after a three-year investigation, had asked the court to keep the case before Engoron as a “related matter.” James’s motion for a preliminary injunction last week was blasted by Trump’s lawyer as part of an effort to keep the case with Engoron, whom Trump has called unfair.
Read More: New York Attorney General Seeks Trump Trial by End of 2023
The injunction motion “is nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to keep this case with Justice Engoron rather than have it transferred to the Commercial Division where it belongs,” Alina Habba, Trump’s personal lawyer, said in an Oct. 13 filing. Habba argued the $250 million lawsuit belonged in the Commercial Division because it qualifies as a complicated commercial matter.
Habba didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Engoron held Trump in contempt of court in April and fined him $10,000 a day for failing to turn over any records related to potentially fraudulent asset valuations at his sprawling company. Trump racked up $110,000 in fines before coming into compliance with the judge.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
