Donald J Trump seems to have a thing for walls. As President, building a wall on our southern border was an obsession with him. Of course, he never did build much of it, and Mexico never did pay for it. Now, his lawyers have tried to build a wall of delay, regurgitated and frivolous legal arguments, and other bad faith tactics. But as time moves forward, Team Trump’s feeble legal wall is being dwarfed by an ever-growing brick wall that judges are building that might finally shut him down.
The legal team for former president Donald Trump in New York is running out of time and patience from the judges, as they continue to offer up defenses that have been deemed as “vexatious and frivolous” by one judge. The delaying tactics that have worked for Trump for so long are no longer effective as judges are growing angry and vocal about their disapproval.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is one person in particular who has been on the receiving end of these delays in Manhattan, as Trump’s lawyers have been repeatedly rebuffed in their attempts to do the former president’s bidding. Despite this, they keep trying to simply continue delaying and only offer already rejected arguments over and over again when they finally appear in court.
Justice Arthur F. Engoron has grown frustrated with these attempts and gave a clear warning to Trump’s lawyers on Wednesday about the potential for sanctions for their “frivolous litigation”. On Friday he finally issued an order rejecting their request to dismiss the case and had some strong words for Trump’s lawyers.
The Daily Beast’s Jose Pagliery wrote about it in a report saying, “On Wednesday, he cautioned Trump’s lawyers to stop putting forth the same rejected arguments in an email that warned he was ‘considering imposing sanctions for frivolous litigation.’ On Friday, he finally issued an order rejecting their request to dismiss the case and remarked that ‘sophisticated defense counsel should have known better.'”
The report adds, “The fact that the Trump team comically acknowledged they are representing the former president by having the same arguments ‘re-presented’ prompted Engoron to write that their action ‘strongly suggests frivolity.'”
According to some legal experts, Trump’s attorneys may be facing disciplinary action due to some of the courtroom exchanges they have had. This could come in the form of a public censure, license suspension or even disbarment.
In the two years since Trump lost the 2020 election and left office, he and whoever represents him are learning the hard way that the delay and bully tactics that worked when he was out of the spotlight in courts as a real estate developer are falling flat now. He is also learning that these courts aren’t a political body like Congress where politics and popular opinions can play into the proceedings. These judges are not playing games or playing to cameras. They actually take their jobs and oaths seriously. If Team Trump can’t offer anything else besides frivolous and already rejected arguments, Americans could see at least some of the litigation start moving forward at a quicker pace than what has been happening so far.
