Nov. 3, 2023, 12:18 p.m. ET
Credit…
Jefferson Siegel for The New York Times
Donald J. Trump’s legal team on Friday repeatedly attacked a law clerk working for the judge presiding over the former president’s civil fraud trial, overshadowing a second day of testimony from Eric Trump.
The judge, Arthur F. Engoron, works closely with the law clerk, Allison Greenfield, and the two can often be seen passing notes on the bench. Before she held this position, Ms. Greenfield worked as a trial attorney in New York City’s law department. The judge appears to rely on her expertise when considering rules of evidence and other matters.
But the former president has taken issue with her involvement — Ms. Greenfield is a Democrat and Mr. Trump believes she is biased against him — and his lawyers have complained about her regularly. On Friday, one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers, Christopher M. Kise, continued those objections, saying that the communications between the judge and his clerk created a “perception of bias.”
After bringing up a report from the right-wing outlet Breitbart that highlighted Ms. Greenfield’s political contributions, Mr. Kise suggested that “the defense will have to give serious consideration to seeking a mistrial.”
Justice Engoron did not take kindly to the objections on Friday, saying that he had an absolute right to confer with Ms. Greenfield, and with any of his staff. “I cut this case right down the middle,” he said. He added that he did not want any further comments about his staff and how he communicates with them.
A lawyer for the New York attorney general’s office, which brought the case against Mr. Trump and his two adult sons, pronounced the whole issue a “sideshow” after Eric Trump had concluded his testimony.
The lawyer, Kevin Wallace, said that the objections about Ms. Greenfield seemed designed to interrupt the attorney general’s case, and that if Mr. Trump’s lawyers were going to ask for a mistrial, they should go ahead and do so.
The judge concluded the day by saying that he would issue a written order on the matter. He has already placed a gag order on the former president, barring him from commenting on court staff. Donald J. Trump has twice violated that order by attacking Ms. Greenfield, incurring $15,000 worth of fines.