Left: Judge Arthur F. Engoron poses for a photo in the courtroom for the 4th day of Trump’s civil fraud trial at the New York State Supreme Court on October 5th, 2023 (Photo by Meir Chaimowitz/NurPhoto via AP). Right: Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media at a Washington hotel, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, after attending a hearing before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals at the federal courthouse in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
The judge overseeing Donald Trump‘s civil fraud case in New York has opted to nix the former president’s chance to make his own closing argument this week, telling his lawyers Trump appeared unable to agree to stick to the “relevant” matters underpinning the civil fraud trial.
The Associated Press reported first that Judge Arthur Engoron yanked the permission and CNN reported Wednesday that the notice came via letter shortly after 12 p.m.
It was the “third extended deadline” the judge had offered for Trump to agree to the terms of what he might say at closing arguments, slated for Thursday. Specifically, the judge sought to reel in any commentary that would address topics beyond the evidence, or topics that might force the entry of new evidence.
“Not having heard from you by the third extended deadline (noon today), I assume that Mr. Trump will not agree to the reasonable, lawful limits I have imposed as a precondition to giving a closing statement above and beyond those given by his attorneys, and that, therefore, he will not be speaking in court tomorrow,” Engoron wrote in a letter to Trump’s attorneys.
The former president’s lawyer Christopher Kise balked at limitations, according to the AP, calling them too ambiguous. The terms would create “the substantial likelihood for misinterpretation or an unintended violation,” Kise said.
Kise also claimed Trump had been “belittled” by the court.
This story is developing.
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