From Thursday's decision in People v. Trump, by N.Y. trial judge Arthur Engoron:
This action, familiarity with which the Court assumes, arises out of a years-long investigation that plaintiff, the Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York ("OAG"), conducted into certain business practices that defendants engaged in from 2011 through 2021. OAG alleged that the individual and entity defendants committed repeated and persistent fraud by preparing, certifying, and submitting to lenders and insurers false and misleading financial statements, thereby violating New York Executive Law § 63(12).
In a Decision and Order dated September 26, 2023, this Court granted plaintiff summary judgment only on liability and only on the first cause of action.
On February 16, 2024, following a three-month trial, this Court issued a Decision and Order After Non-Jury Trial finding defendants liable on the remaining six causes of action. The Court ordered certain injunctive relief, including the continuation of the Hon. Barbara Jones (ret.) as an Independent Monitor of the Trump Organization, which obligates the Court to maintain jurisdiction over this action despite the trial's conclusion.
On May 8, 2024, NBC New York reported that Adam Leitman Bailey, Esq., a lawyer with no connection to this case, boasted that several weeks before I issued the Decision and Order After Non-Jury Trial, he "approached the judge presiding over Donald Trump's civil fraud case to offer unsolicited advice about the law at issue in the case."
On July 11, 2024, this Court so-ordered, in part, defendants' subpoena to Bailey, directing him to disclose any documents or communications in his possession that involve, discuss, or in any way refer to this action.
Defendants now move, pursuant to 22 New York Administrative Code § 100.3(E)(1), for me to recuse myself, or, in the alternative, for an evidentiary hearing before another justice on the communications and their potential impact on the Court's decision.
The Unsolicited Ex-Parte Communication
