Trump fraud trial judge Arthur Engoron ‘under investigation’ for allegedly receiving unsolicited advice from high-profile lawyer before fining former president $454 million

A well-known New York City real estate attorney has reportedly prompted New York State to investigate Judge Arthur Engoron after claiming he gave the judge unsolicited advice.

Engoron ordered former President Donald Trump to pay a $454 million judgment in March after 30 lenders rejected him.

Trump – who often called Engoron “crazy” and “corrupt” – posted $175 million in bonds before the deadline to avoid asset seizures while he appeals the ruling.

Adam Leitman Bailey, a New York real estate attorney, said publicly at the time of the ruling that he had spoken to Judge Engoron three weeks before the ruling and told him to “get it right.”

A spokesperson for Engoron denied the story and said he was “totally uninfluenced” by Bailey, but the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct is reportedly investigating whether he broke any rules, according to NBC New York.

Bailey said in mid-February, the day of the sentencing, that he had spoken to Engoron three weeks earlier.

‘I saw him in the corner [at the courthouse] and I said to my client, ‘I have to go.’ And I walked up to him and we started talking… I wanted him to know what I think and why… I really want him to do well.”

Bailey claims he is not a fan of Trump and is in no way involved in the lawsuits or cases against the president, but says he has litigated for Engoron “hundreds of times.”

He claims he told Engoron to get the verdict right because a ruling imposing such a heavy fine on Trump could hurt New York’s economy.

Bailey even claimed that Engoron had “a lot of questions, you know, about certain cases” when they spoke.

Engoron, through a spokesperson, has vehemently denied any impropriety.

‘There was no ex parte discussion on this matter between Judge Engoron and Mr Bailey or any other person. The decision that Judge Engoron issued on February 16 was his own, deeply considered and completely uninfluenced by this individual,” Al Baker said.

‘Ex parte’ means a conversation between a lawyer and a judge without any other personnel present in a case.

“A judge may not initiate, authorize, or consider any ex parte communication or other communication to the judge without the presence of the parties or their attorneys,” the New York State Rules of Judicial Conduct state.

There is an exception for obtaining ‘the advice of a disinterested expert’.

The state Judicial Conduct Commission will consider whether Engoron violated rules, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

Christopher Kise, who worked on Trump’s defense team and has been a frequent critic of Engoron, says if the allegations are true, it calls the entire case into question.

“The code doesn’t provide an exception for ‘well, this was a minor conversation’ or ‘well, it didn’t really affect me’ or ‘well, this wasn’t something that I, the judge, thought was important,” Kise said. ‘No. The code is very clear.’

Bailey said in a follow-up interview that while Trump’s name was not mentioned, “we were clearly not talking about the Mets.”

The investigation can take months to more than a year.

Trump posted a $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case in April, halting collections on the more than $454 million he owes.

The posted bond also prevents the state from seizing its assets to pay off the debts he appeals his case about inflating the value of companies, according to a lawsuit.

An appeals court in New York had given the former president 10 days to make the money available after a panel of judges last month agreed to reduce the amount needed to stop the clock on enforcement .

The bond Trump is now posting with the court is essentially a placeholder, intended to guarantee payment if the judgment is upheld.

If that happens, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee will have to pay the state the entire amount, which grows with daily interest.

If Trump wins, he will not have to pay the state anything and will receive back the money he has now deposited.

Until the appeals court intervened to reduce the bail requirement, New York Attorney General Letitia James was poised to launch efforts to collect the judgment, possibly by seizing some of Trump’s major properties.

James, a Democrat, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the state.

She had said that if Trump has not made good on the $454 million court judgment against him from his New York fraud trial by then, she will begin seizing property – hitting the prized Art Deco skyscraper of Trump, 40 Wall Street, could be in her sights.

She also appears to be keeping an eye on Trump’s Westchester Golf Club and the Seven Springs estate, and logging judgments in Westchester County.

The former president gushed online about the prospects of the state taking action against him. He wrote a series of fundraising pitches telling New York to “keep your dirty hands off Trump Tower.”

The court ruled after Trump’s lawyers complained that it was “a practical impossibility” to get an underwriter to sign a bond for the $454 million, plus interest, he owed.

Trump is fighting to be overthrown a judge’s ruling on February 16 that he lied about his wealth while nurturing the real estate empire that launched him to stardom and the presidency.