Trump Lawyers’ Request to Delay Fraud Trial Over Covid Concerns Denied By Judge: ‘Masks Are Available’
Mike Segar/Pool Photo via AP
Former President Donald Trump’s legal team was denied on Tuesday when they sought to delay the former president’s civil fraud trial in New York over concerns related to Covid-19 in the courtroom.
Politico legal reporter Erica Orden was in the courtroom and reported on the failed effort. “Trump lawyer Chris Kise says four members of the AG’s team tested positive for COVID. He says he is sitting further away from the AG’s table because he is concerned about exposure. He’s railing against the AG’s lack of notification about exposures,” Orden wrote on Twitter.
Trump is currently on trial in New York City to determine the penalties related to New York Attorney General Letitia James’s civil suit against Trump, his company, and his adult sons. James alleges that Trump committed fraud by falsely inflating his assets for well over a decade. Judge Arthur Engoron has already found Trump liable for the fraud in a summary ruling and the trial is ongoing to determine penalties.
James is seeking a $250 million fine as well as to bar Trump and his adult sons from doing business in the state of New York, which could effectively dissolve his company and force the sale of several of his highly indebted assets.
“We have the leading candidate for president of the United States in this courtroom today,” Orden quotes Kise as saying to Judge Engoron, adding that “I don’t think we should really be here today.” Orden added that Kise then officially sought to postpone proceedings.
“Another Trump lawyer says a member of their team tested positive and another member of the AGs team tested positive this morning,” Orden further reported on Trump’s legal team seeking a delay and hyping their concerns of a Covid outbreak in the courtroom.
MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin also detailed the exchange from inside the courthouse, reporting
Cliff Robert, another member of Team Trump, has now stood to characterize the COVID spread as an epidemic. (One member of the Trump legal team has been diagnosed with COVID as well.) Engoron makes the call: “Masks are available. We will proceed.”
Rubin also noted that Trump lawyer and spokeswoman Alina Habba then complained about sharing a microphone with the prosecutors due to Covid. “She does not want to use a ‘contaminated’ mic, despite remaining unmasked. Relations are frayed: Solomon, visibly frustrated, notes the mic was provided by the AG’s office and they are free to bring their own,” Rubin added, noting the animosity between the AG’s office and Trump’s team.
