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Trump legal brief: Judge Engoron says Trump's lawyers

'whistling past the graveyard' on possible fines
Yahoo News' succinct daily update on the criminal and civil cases against the 45th president of the United
States.

David Knowles · Senior Editor

Tue, October 31, 2023, 9:24 PM GMT+2 · 5 min read 3.3k

Photo Illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Maansi Srivastava/Getty Images, Getty Images (3).

Judge Arthur Engoron chides Trump’s lawyers over their claim that he
shouldn’t be fined as punishment for financial fraud committed in New York. A
federal grand jury in Georgia indicts an Alabama man for making threats
directed at Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

New York financial fraud

Fining Trump for illegal profits is ‘an available remedy,’ judge says

Key players: Judge Arthur Engoron, Trump lawyer Christopher Kise, New York
Attorney General Letitia James

Engoron dismissed the suggestion made by Kise on Tuesday that Trump

should not be fined for any of the actions alleged in the $250 million civil
lawsuit brought by James, Salon reported.

Engoron has already found Trump, his adult sons and their family business
liable for years of financial fraud relating to the overvaluation of their
assets. The ongoing trial will decide what penalty the defendants must pay.

“Several witnesses have testified that they would have acted differently had
they known the statements of financial condition were fraudulent,” Engoron
responded.

“I think, to a certain extent, the defendants are whistling past the graveyard
here,” the judge added.

Kise argued that even if banks and insurers had known that statements
provided by the Trump Organization were fraudulent, they would not have
acted differently regarding the loans and rates they offered.

Why it matters: Coming on Halloween, Engoron’s “whistling past the

graveyard” characterization of how Trump’s lawyers view the threat of large
fines and other sanctions should spook the former president.

Georgia election interference

Alabama man indicted for threats made against Willis

Key players: Huntsville, Ala., resident Arthur Ray Hanson, Fulton County
District Attorney Fani Willis

Court documents unsealed Monday revealed that an Alabama man was

indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Atlanta on charges that he
transmitted interstate threats to Willis, the prosecutor who brought
election interference charges against Trump and 18 others, NBC News
reported.

In a voicemail message left for Willis on the Fulton County customer service
line prior to Trump’s indictment, Hanson, 59, allegedly threatened the DA.

“If you think you gonna take a mugshot of my President Donald Trump and
it’s gonna be OK, you gonna find out that after you take that mugshot,
some bad s***’s probably gonna happen to you,” Hanson told Willis in a
portion of the message.

In August, Abigail Jo Shry of Alvin, Texas, was charged with making threats
against Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the federal election
interference case against Trump.

“If Trump doesn’t get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you, so tread
lightly, b****,” Shry told Chutkan in a voicemail, according to prosecutors.

Why it matters: Gag orders against Trump have been issued in two cases in
which prosecutors have argued that his criticisms of the legal cases represent
a risk to judges, prosecutors, court staff and potential witnesses.

Recommended reading

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over’

___________________

Monday, Oct. 30

___________________

Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images, Mike Segar-Pool/Getty Images,
Getty Images.

Former President Donald Trump lashes out at Judge Tanya Chutkan after she
reimposes a gag order designed to prevent him from attacking prosecutors,
court staff and potential witnesses in the federal election interference case
against him. Meanwhile in Colorado, opening statements are underway in the
case to try to keep Trump off the ballot in the state.

Jan. 6 election interference

Chutkan reinstates Trump gag order

Key players: Judge Tanya Chutkan, special counsel Jack Smith, former White
House chief of staff Mark Meadows

On Sunday, Chutkan sided with arguments made by lawyers on Smith’s team,

reinstating a limited gag order on Trump that is meant to prevent him from
making disparaging comments about prosecutors, court staff and potential
witnesses in the case against him, the Associated Press reported.

On Oct. 20, the judge had temporarily paused an initial gag order on Trump
to allow his lawyers to offer arguments as to why it was unwarranted, but
last week prosecutors asked her to reinstate it.

Chutkan cited a message Trump posted on social media on Oct. 24 about

Meadows’s alleged immunity deal with prosecutors that Smith’s team had
flagged as an attempt at witness intimidation.

"This statement would almost certainly violate the Order under any
reasonable definition of ‘targeting,'” Chutkan wrote in her ruling.

Upon learning of the judge’s decision, Trump went on the attack, saying the
gag order by a “very Biased, Trump Hating Judge in D.C.” would “put me at a
disadvantage against my prosecutorial and political opponents.”

Why it matters: Trump now faces two limited gag orders in two separate legal
cases against him. So far, he has shown little inclination to abide by them. In
the New York financial fraud case, he has already paid $15,000 in fines as a
result of gag order violations.

Opening statements begin in trial to decide whether to ban Trump from

Colorado ballot

Key players: Trump lawyer Scott Gessler, plaintiffs' attorney Eric Olson,
Colorado District Court Judge Sarah Wallace

Opening statements got underway Monday in the case brought by six

Colorado voters and the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and
Ethics in Washington that seeks to bar Trump’s name from appearing on
ballots in the state because of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election,
Reuters reported.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution disqualifies any

person who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the United States
from holding office. The plaintiffs say Trump’s efforts to halt the
certification of his loss to Joe Biden, which they argue resulted in the
deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, fall squarely into that
category.

"Trump incited a violent mob to attack our Capitol, to stop the peaceful
transition of power," Olson said at the start of the trial.

"People should be able to run for office and shouldn't be punished for their
speech," Gessler countered in his own opening statement.

The trial is expected to last one week and will be decided by Wallace.

Why it matters: Voters in several other states are pursuing legal challenges to
Trump’s 2024 presidential bid on similar grounds. Ultimately, these cases are
viewed as long shots but could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

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