The brief scare came on the last day of a legal battle linked to an alleged multi-million-dollar fraud
Judge Arthur Engoron is seen during the fraud trial against former President Donald Trump, in Manhattan, New York, January 11, 2024. © AP / Shannon Stapleton
Police in New York have responded to a bomb threat against the judge overseeing a case accusing former President Donald Trump of major fraud. Court officials say the incident will not delay the civil suit, which has entered the closing arguments.
The threat was made just hours before Trump’s fraud trial was set to wrap up on Thursday morning, with the Nassau County Police Department describing a “swatting incident” targeting the home of Judge Arthur Engoron. Court spokesman Al Baker later said the episode involved a bomb threat.
“There was a threat. I can confirm a bomb threat,” Baker said, as quoted by the Associated Press. “As of now we are going forward as scheduled and the court proceedings and closing arguments are going ahead as planned.”
The New York Attorney General’s Office, which filed the multi-million-dollar civil suit in 2022, also confirmed that the case would go on as scheduled.
The lawsuit accuses the former president’s company, the Trump Organization, of falsely inflating the value of its real estate assets in order to reduce its tax and insurance bills. Trump and his sons Donald Jr. and Eric have denied the allegations.
Thursday’s bomb threat came amid closing arguments in the case, which Trump himself had hoped to deliver in part. Engoron denied the request earlier this week, however, citing concerns that Trump would not “limit his subjects” to matters “relevant” to the trial.
The former president has slammed the decision as a “disgraceful” gag order, saying the case should be “dismissed immediately.”
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Trump is also facing local charges in New York over alleged hush money payments to a porn star, as well as federal charges over top-secret government documents and his alleged involvement in the January 6 riot at the US Capitol. He is the first former president to face a federal indictment, but has dismissed all of the cases as politically motivated and intended to sabotage his 2024 presidential bid.
