Judge Engoron’s verdict against Donald Trump
Earlier this month Judge Arthur Engoron stated that he would try to issue a final verdict in Donald Trump’s New York civil fraud trial by January 31st. That was today, and we haven’t heard anything from from Engoron. So what’s going on?
Remember, while Judge Engoron said he was aiming/i> for today for the verdict in the Trump fraud case, he’s not required to announce it today. Nor is he required to give us updates on his expected timeframe. But his verdict will come soon, and it’ll be devastating for Trump.
While Engoron can assign any dollar amount he wants, it’s not as simple as writing down a number. He and his team have to ensure that every dollar in penalties is specifically supported by the law in rock solid fashion, so that Trump can’t overturn it by appealing.
While the judge already summarily ruled against Trump on the main allegation of fraud, there are also other factual matters that he still has to rule on. That takes time too.
Then there’s the court appointed monitor’s recent filing about the Trump Organization’s ongoing violations. While the judge can use this as a basis for even larger damages, he has to work his way through all of it first.
As far as timing, the good news is that the judge hasn’t said anything. If he realized he was going to need weeks of extra time, he’d have been more likely to say something. His silence is more likely to mean that the verdict is still close to being on track. If you’re going to be half an hour late for lunch, you call and warn the person. If you’re going to be five minutes late, you just show up five minutes late.
So how will the verdict come down, and how will we find out about it? That’s up to the judge. He can just file it and let the media get filing alerts about it. It could still theoretically hit the wire tonight for all we know, though I wouldn’t recommend staying up for it.
Keep in mind that while the timing may understandably be important to you in terms of your expectations and impatience, the timing is not important in the scheme of things. If the judge had originally announced next week as his goal instead of today, we wouldn’t even be worrying about it right now. And it’s not going to have a material impact whether the verdict comes today, tomorrow, or the next day.
If there’s one upside, it’s that Donald Trump is surely lying awake right now sweating this verdict. If it takes a few more days for the verdict to arrive, it’ll just mean a few more sleepless nights for Trump. If you’re feeling antsy about waiting for the verdict, imagine how Trump feels.
