After issuing a summary judgment last week that would dissolve former President Donald Trump’s businesses without even holding a trial, the Democrat activist judge presiding over the case further displayed his bias on Monday when he was seen laughing and smiling at the start of Trump’s trial.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who campaigned on prosecuting Trump, has accused the former president of inflating his assets to get better loan terms from his lenders. In a press release when filing the suit, the Democrat attorney general declared: “For too long, powerful, wealthy people in this country have operated as if the rules do not apply to them. Donald Trump stands out as among the most egregious examples of this misconduct.”
James filed the $250 million civil case last year under a law that requires a judge to decide the outcome instead of a jury, which is especially beneficial to James because the judge chosen for the case is a Democrat. James has already gotten a favorable ruling in the case, as the judge ruled last week that Trump’s businesses be dissolved — while also making a shocking and clearly incorrect declaration that Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate is worth only $18 million.
As the first hearing in Trump’s trial began on Monday, Democrat Judge Arthur F. Engoron was caught on camera laughing and smiling on the bench in a clear display of his bias against Trump.
Political commentator Greg Price shared a clip of the judge’s obvious good spirits in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Just smiling and laughing as they turn our country into a third world banana republic,” Price wrote in the post.
Just smiling and laughing as they turn our country into a third world banana republic. pic.twitter.com/blFQrLNbnz
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 2, 2023
However, this was not the first instance that showed the judge’s bias.
Engoron, a Democrat justice sitting on the New York Supreme Court 1st Judicial District in Manhattan, ruled that Trump was liable for illegally inflating assets without even allowing the former president’s attorneys to defend him in court. In his ruling based solely on the arguments presented by the prosecution, Engoron claimed that Trump’s finances “clearly contain fraudulent valuations.”
The Democrat judge also claimed that Mar-a-Lago, the only property in Palm Beach to face the waterfront on both the ocean and the waterway, was worth only $18 million — despite the fact that nearby properties that are a fraction of the size of Mar-a-Lago are on the market for hundreds of millions of dollars. Trump previously valued Mar-a-Lago at between $426 million and $612 million.
“One prominent Palm Beach real estate broker, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Post, ‘It’s utterly delusional to think that property is only worth $18 million,’” the New York Post reported.
“If that property were on the market today, I would list it at around $300 million, minimum … at least. He also has the separate golf course minutes away,” the broker’s statement continued, according to the outlet.
