In a scathing Tuesday ruling that found former President Donald Trump, his sons, and their family business liable for fraud, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron did not mince words. Buried within the extensive judgment, there was a notable moment of judicial mockery aimed at the arguments presented by Trump’s legal team regarding the calculation of square footage in his Trump Tower Triplex.
Justice Engoron’s ruling, which favored New York Attorney General Letitia James, lambasted the defendants for using fraudulent valuations in their business dealings, a clear violation of the law. However, the defense had an audacious assertion – they argued that the concept of “objective” value did not exist and that the court should not trust its own eyes.
On page 21 of the judgment, Justice Engoron couldn’t resist adding a touch of humor to the proceedings by referencing the Marx Brothers and their classic film “Duck Soup.” He quoted Chico Marx, playing Chicolini, who famously asked, “well, who ya gonna believe, me or your own eyes?” in the film.
Moving back to the matter at hand, the judge took issue with the square footage calculation for Trump’s Triplex, declaring that it had been overestimated by a staggering “factor of three.” He then turned his attention to the defense’s explanation that calculating square footage was a “subjective process.”
Justice Engoron did not hold back in his response. He wrote, “In opposition, defendants absurdly suggest that ‘the calculation of square footage is a subjective process that could lead to differing results or opinions based on the method employed to conduct the calculation.'”
However, he quickly pointed out that Trump’s attorney, Christopher Kise, abandoned this assertion during oral arguments, admitting that square footage is, in fact, an objective measurement.
Justice Engoron went on to emphasize that “good-faith measurements could vary by as much as 10-20%, not 200%,” concluding that such a significant discrepancy, especially when made by a real estate developer assessing his own living space over decades, could only be construed as fraudulent.
The consequences meted out by Justice Engoron were severe and unequivocal, even before the civil case proceeded to trial. He ordered Trump’s lawyers to pay sanctions of $7,500 each, held Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization liable for fraud, canceled business certificates, appointed retired Judge Barbara S. Jones as an independent monitor for the Trump Organization, and mandated that the parties in the case recommend no more than three potential independent receivers to oversee the dissolution of the canceled LLCs within 10 days.
In this landmark case, Justice Engoron’s sharp wit and firm stance against what he deemed “absurd” legal arguments sent a resounding message that the rule of law applies to all, regardless of their stature or position.
