Trump's attorney accuses opposing counsel of passing notes to judge during testimony

Trump’s attorney accuses opposing counsel of passing notes to judge during testimony

ByJasmime Kaur

November 17, 2023

Donald Trump’s attorney Christopher Kise said that Allison Greenfield, the opposing counsel, was passing notes to the judge when Trump’s other lawyer Jesus Suarez was questioning a witness.

“Every time Mr Suarez was making a point and there was a dialog, there would be notes passed to you. When the Attorney General was speaking, there would be no notes passed to you,” said Kise.

This got Judge Arthur Engoron to respond by pounding on the table in anger.

“That’s – I’m going to pound the table – confidential communications from my principal law clerk. I have an absolute right to it and you don’t have any right to see it or question it,” said Engoron.

Upon this, Trump asked for a mistrial in the fraud case against him on November 15. The 30-page motion claims that Judge Arthur Engoron is biased and was seen reading notes from his clerk before making major rulings in the case.

The motion names Engoron’s clerk, Greenfield eight times and refers to the “Principal Law Clerk” 44 times. Trump’s lawyers say Greenfield is almost a co-judge in the case.

The motion states that before the court even rules on most of the issues, it either pauses to consult with her on the bench or receives from her contemporaneous written notes.

Why a mistrial

New York Attorney General Letitia James said Donald Trump was trying to cover up lies by going for a mistrial.

“Once again, Donald Trump is trying to dismiss the truth and the facts, but the numbers and evidence don’t lie. Trump is now being held accountable for the years of fraud he committed and the incredible ways he lied to enrich himself and his family. He can keep trying to distract from his fraud, but the truth always comes out,” she said in a statement.

James’ will announce if they plan to file a rebuttal and if they do another proposed schedule for how long the mistrial arguments will be will have to be submitted.