Trump Lawyers Insist NYAG has Too Much Evidence $250M Civil Trial

Former President Donald Trump's lawyers' request for a months long delay before the start of the New York attorney general's $250 million civil fraud trial against him, his three eldest children, and the Trump Organization is clearly an attempt to stall the inevitable.

In a court filing submitted to the court last Friday, Trump's lawyers argued that the current deadline for discovery in the case — March 20 — is unfair and unrealistic given the "staggering" amount of evidence they have to review they have received from the office of New York's Attorney General Letitia James.

According to Trump's lawyers filing…

"On December 2, 2022, the Attorney General produced several terabytes of data encompassing nearly 700,000 documents, more than 5.5 million pages of information, in addition to fifty-six witness and Defendant interview transcripts with corresponding exhibits."

According to Trump's lawyers, while they've since pared that down to "nearly 275,000 documents and more than 2.6 million pages," reviewing those documents will take "up to 11,000 working hours" to complete. They argue Trump would "suffer severe prejudice" under the "impossible" current schedule that has been "forced upon them."

Trump's lawyers further argue...

 "Defendants cannot possibly review the staggering volume of material, serve subpoenas, review subpoenaed materials, prepare for and conduct depositions — all within a three-and-a-half-month period from the date on which Plaintiff produced its investigative file — and then prepare and present expert reports one month later."

Trump's lawyers asked the presiding judge to extend the deadline for fact discovery until late September and for expert witness discovery until December — two months after the trial is currently slated to begin.

If the judge signs off on delaying the trial, it would likely start in early 2024, as Trump's campaign for the Presidency in the Republican primaries begins.

James filed the sweeping lawsuit against Trump, his three eldest children, Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric, and the company in September of 2022 and is the culmination of a multi-year probe into the company's business practices.

In the civil claim, the NYAG argues that Trump, his three oldest children, and the company's management have misrepresented their value in financial statements to banks and insurers to the tune of billions of dollars. This enabled them to get loans and agreements they were not entitled to.

In addition to financial penalties, James' civil suit seeks to permanently bar Trump and his three eldest children from serving as officers of New York-based companies and to prevent Trump and his company from making commercial real estate acquisitions in the state for a period of five years.

When they were ousted, the former thrice impeached and disgraced 2020 presidential candidate and his son Eric Trump cited the 5th Amendment 800 times.

The prospects of the trial being delayed by the judge presiding over the case, Arthur Engoron, are slim, particularly since Engoron said last month that the trial date would be October 2 "come hell or high water."

The office of the New York Attorney General urged the judge not to permit any significant delays in a letter that was sent out the previous month. In the letter, they pointed out that the Trumps have a long history of using delaying tactics in the case and that they have been aware of the evidence presented by the attorney general, given that it follows a lengthy investigation.

Assistant Attorney General Colleen Faherty said in the letter. That the Trumps' "claimed hardship is self-inflicted" and "Their pleas ring hollow, and their delays should not be rewarded with more delay."

Trump's request for a postponement in the civil trial is most likely a legal ploy to increase Trump's chances of winning an appeal. According to legal experts, Trump's prospects of effectively fighting against the case were harmed when the former President and his son Eric asserted their 5th Amendment rights during their deposition.

An unfavorable inference may be formed in a civil trial in New York State where independent proof of the facts to which the party refuses to respond allegation(s) included in a civil complaint exists."

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                       New York AG files $250 million lawsuit against Trump, children