Trump Lawyers Seek to Pause New York Civil Fraud Trial

Attorneys for Donald Trump sought to pause his ongoing New York civil fraud trial Friday amid testimony by the Trump Organization’s former controller about an inflated valuation of the former president’s Manhattan penthouse.

The appeal, filed Friday in a New York appellate court, also sought to pause enforcement of a judge's order that canceled business certificates for a number of properties controlled by the Trump Organization.

In the appeal, attorneys for Trump and executives for the Trump Organization argued the decision by Judge Arthur Engoron would harm a number of employees who have nothing to do with the litigation.

The decision would, "unquestionably inflict severe and irreparable harm not
only to Appellants but to innocent nonparties and employees who depend on the affected entities for their livelihoods," the appeal states.

"Terminating non-party business licenses without jurisdiction, without process, without statutory authority, without trial, and without reason renders impossible the lawful operation of multiple businesses and threatens termination of hundreds of New York employees without any jurisdiction or due process," it adds.

They are seeking a stay of the trial to "avoid an avalanche of compounding errors" that could be caused by proceeding before an appellate court could rule on their motion to pause enforcement of Engoron's order.

The motion — which if granted would temporarily pause the proceedings in New York State Supreme Court in Lower Manhattan — came after a dramatic first week at the trial, which Trump attended for the first three days.

The judge overseeing the case issued a narrow gag order on the GOP's 2024 frontrunner Tuesday after he posted an image of the jurist’s principal law clerk on social media and suggested she was biased against him.

Trump's Truth Social post, which the judge said he ordered to be deleted, included an image of the clerk standing with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and a caption that claimed the staffer was “Schumer’s girlfriend.”

“Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate and I will not tolerate them in any circumstances,” Judge Engoron said in issuing the gag order.

On Thursday, former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, who is named as a co-defendant in the suit, testified that executives at the company boosted the value of the former president’s Trump Tower penthouse by $20 million, in part because of his celebrity status.

The suit by Attorney General James alleges Trump and executives at the Trump Organization fraudulently inflated the worth of his assets to deceive banks and insurers. Trump has denied wrongdoing.

Before the trial kicked off Monday, Judge Engoron ruled on some of the claims in the suit, finding Trump engaged in fraud by improperly inflating the value of his assets.