A Manhattan judge is threatening to sanction Donald Trump's lawyers for filing "frivolous litigation" in the New York attorney general's lawsuit against the former president.
The threat against the law firms was made in court documents.
The judge told the parties in the attorney general's lawsuit that the court was considering imposing sanctions for frivolous litigation.
Three firms would be punished for filing motions to dismiss the lawsuit that set forth the same legal arguments that the court previously rejected. He denied Trump's request for a preliminary injunction to stop the lawsuit.
The judge said that Trump's repeated arguments for dismissal include that the New York Attorney General does not have legal standing to file a lawsuit, that her lawsuit is part of a political "witch-hunt" and that a simple warning would suffice.
The law firms argued that the November rejection of their arguments was a preliminary finding and that they could raise the same arguments now.
The judge's email gives little notice and time for counsel to respond. The attorney general's office was asked to respond to the accusation within a day.
Lawyers for James agreed with the judge that Trump's current dismissal arguments were "rehashed" and "calculated to delay the proceedings and divert the court's resources."
The subject line of the email was "PoTENTIAL SANCTIONS FOR LITIGATION", but it didn't say when he would make a decision.
James' investigation of Trump's real-estate and golf-resort empire and her lawsuit seeking to bar the Trump Organization from doing business in New York have been presided over by Engoron.
According to the judge, the trial date is October 2.
The judge who found Trump in contempt of court in the lead up to the lawsuit being filed was the same one who found Trump in contempt in the first place.
When the judge lifted the contempt order, the fine went from $10,000 a day to $110,000.
The Trump Organization turned over more than one million documents to James.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
