The ongoing New York state fraud case against former U.S president Donald Trump continues to garner attention despite taking a back seat amid Trump’s more high-profile legal battles. The case constitutes a series of fiscal offenses, which may lack the allure of the flashier cases against Trump but none the less hold a considerable legal threat towards him and his business. The attorneys fighting this case on his behalf have demonstrated unstinting zeal, that some might consider overzealous.
However, zealousness has its limits, particularly when it involves the relentless advancement of arguments that have already been overruled by the court. Lawyers are expected there to champion their client’s cause, but to persist in presenting an argument even after repeated dismissal by the court is another matter entirely. Such happened when the New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur F. Engoron had to listen again to arguments already disregarded as per
reports.
In a recent update as reported by Law360, the court heard the attorney general’s motion for sanctions against Trump’s attorneys for repeatedly making the same dismissed arguments. The frustrated Judge Engoron did not mince his words when he called the actions of Trump’s attorney Chris Kise “literally crazy.”
The judge said the first time he heard Trump’s argument that the attorney general lacked standing or capacity to sue, “I thought that was a joke.”
“Standing? This statute is custom-made for the attorney general to bring a case like this. How could you possibly say she doesn’t have standing?” the judge asked.
“I thought: These arguments are crazy. Literally, literally crazy,” Justice Engoron said, recalling how he called them “borderline frivolous” in a previous decision. “Then, the appellate division affirms me. Twice.”
“The law on sanctions is if you’ve been warned, don’t do it,” the judge said.
Justice Engoron is yet to rule on the sanction motion and the competing summary judgment motions presented the same day. Still, it’s clear that his patience is being tested to its limits. As this saga continues, legal professionals closely observe the consequences of what can occur when legal zeal crosses the line into obstinate disregard for court rulings.