According to a person with firsthand knowledge of the matter who spoke to NBC News, Long Island police reacted to a bomb threat at Judge Arthur Engoron’s residence on Thursday morning. Judge Engoron is in charge of former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud case.
The threat was made only hours before the trial’s final arguments, which were anticipated to go forward.
Engoron’s residence was the subject of a Thursday morning bomb squad investigation by Nassau County; it is unknown if Engoron was there.
Regarding whether Trump might speak during closing arguments, Engoron and Trump’s lawyer Chris Kise engaged in a heated email debate on Wednesday. In the end, Engoron turned down the request.
Because of the purported bomb threat, there was a delay in letting media and attorneys pass through security lines and into the courtroom where closing arguments are being held.
Protesters outside the courtroom temporarily blocked traffic until law officials pulled them aside as they yelled behind a banner that said, “No Dictators in the USA.”
In a tense email conversation with Trump’s attorneys on Wednesday, Engoron denied Trump’s request to present a portion of the closing arguments personally. This was in response to the former president’s refusal to promise to stick to the case’s facts and avoid making personal attacks.
In an email to Engoron, Trump’s lawyer Kise stated, “You are not allowing President Trump, who has been wrongfully demeaned and belittled by an out of control, politically motivated Attorney General, please talk about matters that need to be discussed.”
With a “take it or leave it,” Engoron answered. Giving Kise seven minutes to accept his demands, he said, “Now or never.” After Kise remained silent, Engoron said that Trump would not testify.
Trump is still anticipated to attend Thursday’s final statements in Engoron’s courtroom, though. Trump claimed that, despite not committing to attend, he was “forced” to travel to New York for the final arguments on Wednesday night before taking part in a town hall in Iowa.
“This trial is unfair and rigged,” he stated in a post on his Truth Social page.
Following a years-long investigation into their business practices, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a $370 million lawsuit against Trump, the Trump Organisation, and key officials, including Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. Engoron is presiding over a bench trial in this case. Since there isn’t a jury in this trial, Engoron will decide and impose any sanctions.
Trump and his friends have started attacking James and Engoron. In October, the judge imposed a partial gag order on Trump following his derogatory statements to the media and on social media against the legal clerk of Engoron. Due to his two violations of the gag order, the former president was fined. In November, Engoron extended the gag order to cover Trump’s legal team as well.
Trump filed an appeal, claiming the gag order was unlawful. However, a state appeals court upheld it, claiming that it was required because of the “tsunami” of threats made against the clerk following Trump’s attacks on her on social media.
A day after the trial’s testimony concluded last month, a state appeals court maintained the gag order against Trump once more, finding that the president’s attorneys had wrongly sued Engoron rather than first requesting that the judge reverse the gag order through the standard appeals procedure.
James claims in her complaint that Trump committed fraud by inflating the value of his homes and assets for more than ten years in financial records.
Trump has insisted that his properties were worth more than what the financial filings indicated and has denied any wrongdoing. Additionally, he has stated time and time again that the civil fraud action is part of an attempt to sabotage his bid for president in 2024, in which he is still the front-runner in the GOP primary.
Following the first day of the civil fraud trial in October, Trump remarked, “I’ve been sitting in a courthouse all day instead of being in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, or a lot of other places I could be at.” “Our nation is in a terrible situation right now.”
He went on, “It’s election meddling.”
