Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, said Sunday that she will be filing for a mistrial “very soon” in Mr. Trump’s New York fraud case.
Mr. Trump and Ms. Habba have repeatedly said that this fraud case is politically motivated and that the people involved are biased.
“I can tell you that we will be filing papers to address all of those issues,” Ms. Habba said on Fox News Sunday, acknowledging that she also has a partial gag order against her.
Asked if she would be filing a mistrial, she replied, “very soon.”
Ms. Habba said a key problem with the case is that there is only one judge who makes the decisions.
“The problem is, with all of these things, such as filing a motion for recusal, which we have done twice, is that the judge has to be the one that decides, is he going to recuse himself? Does he feel that there was a mistrial?” she said, referring to Judge Arthur Engoron.
“It’s a bench trial. We have one judge. And it’s the same judge that issued the gag order that has to make determinations,” Ms. Habba said. “So, at this point, I don’t have any reason to believe he shouldn’t after what we have learned, if it’s true.”
Judge Engoron is presiding without a jury over the case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat. The lawsuit, which involves Mr. Trump, the Trump organization and his two adult sons, alleges that the organization misled banks, insurers and others by exaggerating the net worth to get larger loans and better insurance rates.
Last month, Judge Engoron issued a gag order to stop Mr. Trump and others involved from publically speaking about the judge or his team. The former president has been fined $10,000 over a comment he made in a courthouse hallway about the judge and a clerk. Just days before, he was fined $5,000 for having a social media post that violated the gag order still up on his campaign website.
Judge Engoron has already ruled that fraud has occurred, and the trial continues to decide on the damages. Ms. James is seeking more than $300 million and aims to stop the Trumps from doing business in New York.
Lawyers for Mr. Trump will start calling witnesses Monday, with his son, Donald Trump Jr., being the first up.
Source:Washington Times
