Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) filed an ethics suit against the judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s civil case in New York City this week. The leading House Republican’s efforts aim to have Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron removed from the ongoing trial.
Stefanik wrote on social media about the bid to remove the judge she describes as showing “clear judicial bias” against the former president.
Stefanik argued in her judicial complaint that Engoron showed “inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance” during the case.
She said that the judge’s “bizarre behavior has no place in our judicial system” and accused Engoron of “not honoring the defendant’s rights to due process and a fair trial.”
The House Republican Conference Chair wrote that the ongoing trial was complicated by Trump’s candidacy for president and argued that the “judicial system is being politicized to affect the outcome of the campaign.”
🚨🚨🚨 I just filed an official judicial complaint against Judge Arthur Engoron for his inappropriate bias and judicial intemperance in New York’s disgraceful lawsuit against President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization.
Americans are sick and tired of the blatant… pic.twitter.com/5HRzSle2LV
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) November 10, 2023
Stefanik cited a statement by Engoron to Trump’s legal team in 2022 that the former president was “just a bad guy” and that he had encouraged New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) to “go after” him.
Stefanik added that the judge “infamously smiled and posed for the cameras” at the beginning of the trial.
She added that the judge “entered summary judgment against the defendant before the trial even began, without witnesses, other evidence and cross-examination.”
Stefanik said this was the case “despite the fact there’s disputed material evidence” and that there was “no victim of the defendant’s supposed fraud.”
The New York Republican also argued that the fact that there is no jury in the case may violate Trump’s Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial.
“And Judge Engoron has made it crystal clear he doesn’t care what the defendant or his attorneys have to say. Indeed, Judge Engoron illegally gagged them,” she continued.
Stefanik argued that the judge “and his staff are partisan Democrat donors.” Stefanik argued that the judge “and his staff are partisan Democrat donors.” She cited several donations from Engoron and his staff to Democratic-linked campaigns.
