Engoron 'under investigation' for receiving unsolicited advice
- Engoron ordered former President Donald Trump in March to pay $454 million
- Adam Leitman Bailey said he spoke to Engoron three weeks before the ruling
- He said he wasn’t a fan of Trump and he encouraged Engoron to ‘get it right’
A well known New York City real estate lawyer has reportedly prompted the state of New York to investigate Judge Arthur Engoron after he claimed to have given the judge unsolicited advice.
Engoron ordered former President Donald Trump in March to pay a $454 million judgement after 30 lenders turned him away.
Trump – who frequently referred to Engoron as ‘crazed’ and ‘corrupt’ – posted $175 million in bond before a deadline to avoid asset seizure as he appeals the ruling.
Adam Leitman Bailey, a New York real estate attorney, said at the time of the ruling in public that he spoke to Judge Engoron three weeks before the ruling and told him to ‘get it right.’
A spokesman for Engoron denied the story and said he was ‘wholly uninfluenced’ by Bailey, but The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct reportedly is looking into whether he violated any rules, according to NBC New York.
Adam Leitman Bailey, a New York real estate attorney, is going public with claims that he spoke to Judge Engoron three weeks before the ruling and told him to ‘get it right’
Trump – who frequently referred to Engoron as ‘crazed’ and ‘corrupt’ – posted $175 million in bond before a deadline to avoid asset seizure as he appeals the ruling
A spokesman for Engoron denied the story and said he was ‘wholly uninfluenced’ by Bailey, but The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct reportedly is looking into whether he violated any rules
Bailey said in mid-February, the day of the ruling, that he’d spoken to Engoron three weeks earlier.
‘I saw him in the corner [at the courthouse] and I told my client, ‘I need to go.’ And I walked over and we started talking … I wanted him to know what I think and why…I really want him to get it right.’
Bailey claims he’s not a fan of Trump and is in no way connected to any of the lawsuits or cases against the president but says he’s litigated in front of Engoron ‘hundreds of times.’
He claims he told Engoron to get the judgement right because a ruling levying such a heavy fine against Trump could damage New York’s economy.
Bailey even claimed that Engoron ‘had a lot of questions, you know, about certain cases’ when they spoke.
Engoron, through a spokesman, has vehemently denied any impropriety.
‘No ex parte conversation concerning this matter occurred between Justice Engoron and Mr. Bailey or any other person. The decision Justice Engoron issued February 16 was his alone, was deeply considered, and was wholly uninfluenced by this individual,’ said Al Baker
‘Ex parte’ means a conversation between a lawyer and a judge without any of the other personnel in a case present.
Bailey said in mid-February, the day of the ruling, that he’d spoken to Engoron three weeks earlier
‘I saw him in the corner [at the courthouse] and I told my client, ‘I need to go.’ And I walked over and we started talking … I wanted him to know what I think and why…I really want him to get it right,’ Bailey said of his talk with Engoron
Bailey claims he’s not a fan of Trump and is in no way connected to any of the lawsuits or cases against the president but says he’s litigated in front of Engoron ‘hundreds of times’
‘A judge shall not initiate, permit, or consider ex parte communications, or consider other communications made to the judge outside the presence of the parties or their lawyers,’ the New York State Rules of Judicial Conduct state.
There is an exception for getting ‘the advice of a disinterested expert.’
According to multiple sources familiar with the case, the state’s commission on judicial conduct will consider whether Engoron broke any rules.
Christopher Kise, who worked on Trump’s defense team and has been a frequent critic of Engoron, says if the allegations are true it puts the entire case into question.
‘The code doesn’t provide an exception for ‘well, this was a small conversation’ or ‘well, it didn’t really impact me’ or ‘well, this wasn’t something that I, the judge, found significant,’ Kise said. ‘No. The code is very clear.’
Bailey said in a follow-up interview that while Trump’s name wasn’t mentioned, ‘obviously we weren’t talking about the Mets.’
The investigation could take anywhere from months to over a year.
Trump posted a $175 million bond in April in his New York civil fraud case, halting collection of the more than $454 million he owes.
Trump posted a $175 million bond in April in his New York civil fraud case, halting collection of the more than $454 million he owes
The investigation could take anywhere from months to over a year
Trump frequently raged at Engoron during the case
The posted bond also prevents the state from seizing his assets to satisfy the debt while he appeals his case over inflating the value of businesses, according to a court filing.
A New York appellate court had given the former president ten days to put up the money after a panel of judges agreed last month to slash the amount needed to stop the clock on enforcement.
The bond Trump is posting with the court now is essentially a placeholder, meant to guarantee payment if the judgment is upheld.
If that happens, the presumptive Republican 2024 presidential nominee will have to pay the state the whole sum, which grows with daily interest.
Should Trump win, he won’t have to pay the state anything and will get back the money he has put up now.
Until the appeals court intervened to lower the required bond, New York Attorney General Letitia James had been poised to initiate efforts to collect the judgment, possibly by seizing some of Trump’s marquee properties.
James, a Democrat, brought the lawsuit on the state´s behalf.
She had said if Trump hasn’t made good on a $454 million court judgement against him by then from his New York fraud trial, she will begin seizing properties – hitting that Trump’s prized Art Deco skyscraper 40 Wall Street could be in her sights.
She also appears to be eyeing Trump’s Westchester golf club and Seven Springs estate, registering judgments in Westchester County.
The former president was boiling over online at the prospects the state may act against him. He wrote a series of fundraising pitches telling New York to ‘keep your filthy hands off Trump Tower.’
The court ruled after Trump´s lawyers complained it was ‘a practical impossibility’ to get an underwriter to sign off on a bond for the $454 million, plus interest, that he owes.
Trump is fighting to overturn a judge’s Feb. 16 finding that he lied about his wealth as he fostered the real estate empire that launched him to stardom and the presidency.
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