On Tuesday, the New York judge handling President Trump’s civil fraud case limited the scope of a subpoena targeting an outside lawyer who claimed he offered unsolicited advice as the judge was deciding the multimillion-dollar verdict.
Judge Arthur Engoron determined that Trump’s subpoena of New York real estate lawyer Adam Leitman Bailey amounted to an “improper wholesale fishing expedition” for any communications between Bailey and himself. Engoron pointed out that Bailey and his firm had frequently appeared before his court, making it likely that unrelated conversations would be included in the broad request.
Nonetheless, Engoron acknowledged that the subpoena had some merit, arguing that Bailey’s “extraordinary claims to the media” justified Trump's lawyers seeking any relevant communications or documents.
On February 16, the day Engoron issued a $464 million judgment plus interest against Trump for inflating his net worth for tax and insurance advantages, Bailey told NBC New York that he had approached the judge weeks earlier with unsolicited advice about the case.
“I saw him in the corner at the courthouse, and I told my client, ‘I need to go.' 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 to NBC New York.
Bailey later clarified that “the word ‘Donald Trump'” was never mentioned, but when asked if it was obvious they were discussing Trump’s case, he responded, “Well, obviously we weren’t talking about the Mets.”
This interaction led Trump’s attorneys to request that Engoron recuse himself, alleging that the judge had improperly discussed the case with an outside party. Engoron has not yet ruled on the recusal request, but a court spokesperson stated that the judge’s decision in Trump’s case “was his alone, was deeply considered, and was wholly uninfluenced” by Bailey.
Bailey previously told The Hill that his comments to NBC New York were “off the record” and that he “only discussed with the Judge the September Summary Judgment decision,” in which Engoron found Trump and his co-defendants liable for fraud. Engoron instructed Bailey to provide any relevant documents to Trump’s attorneys within one week.
