Former President Donald Trump is no longer suing Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over his civil fraud trial in Manhattan, a new court filing submitted on Thursday night shows.
Trump filed a lawsuit against Engoron last month, accusing the judge of ignoring an appeals court order in what was seen as an effort from the Trump legal team to delay the trial that began on Monday.
Former federal prosecutor and elected state attorney Michael McAuliffe told Newsweek that since the trial is already underway, there’s little reason for the legal action against Engoron to remain unresolved.
“As with so much of what Trump does, the suit was a short-term tactical move designed to delay the start of the civil fraud trial,” McAuliffe said. “When the maneuver of filing suit against the presiding judge didn’t work—the trial started as scheduled—the main reason for the suit evaporated.”
Referring to the petition that Trump, his two eldest sons and the Trump Organization filed against the judge and New York Attorney Letitia James on September 13, the motion filed Thursday informed the court that the proceeding is “discontinued with prejudice.”
Newsweek reached out to Trump attorney Chris Kise via email for comment.
The move coincided with the dismissal of another Trump lawsuit on Thursday night. Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen announced that the former president had unexpectedly dropped the $500 million lawsuit against him, although a spokesperson for Trump vowed to revisit it.
Cohen made the announcement on X, formerly Twitter, saying that Trump had voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit that accused Cohen of breaching attorney-client privileges by disparaging him in media appearances.
A spokesperson said Trump would continue the lawsuit after he “has prevailed in dealing with the witch hunts against him,” warning that Cohen would still be “be held accountable for his unlawful words and actions.” Trump is facing four criminal trials and various civil trials, like the fraud case in New York.
“Trump’s signature approach to lawsuits is to try anything and everything to achieve what he decides in the moment is desirable,” McAuliffe said. "That approach works with underfunded opponents and those who can’t sustain intense, hand-to-hand combat litigation.
“What’s changed is the current crop of legal opponents Trump is facing in the civil and criminal matters are well funded, competent and committed to their causes. That’s why you are seeing Trump losing the numerous smaller legal battles.”
The trial in New York is ongoing as James continues to seek $250 million in damages and to prohibit the Trumps from conducting business in the state.
Engoron found Trump liable of fraud last week after agreeing with prosecutors that “a discrepancy of this order of magnitude, by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space of decades, can only be considered fraud.”
They are saying that finding it reasonable, in a supposedly just system, that his previous lawsuits against him have failed because (regardless of merit) those litigants were underfunded or lacked the will for a lengthy, costly fight, is ridiculous. Nodding and agreeing as if that is something that should be expected instead of a sign of the inherent corruption of a supposedly just system is problematic.
I don’t think they’re nodding and agreeing. I think they’re simply not pretending that it’s not happening. Organizations and individuals with sufficiently deep pockets have historically evaded accountability by simply bogging lawsuits down in frivolous motions and delaying tactics until the money runs out. That particular problem is beyond the scope of the author’s topic. For the moment the topic is on why Trump is tightening his belt and preparing for the real legal fight.