Trump Wails ‘No Jury’ His Lawyer Blames the Judge. Here’s the Truth

As usual, Donald Trump is in a legal skirmish and as usual the Tower Of Babel reigns. Trump is miserable because the Trump Organization fraud trial is not going forward in front of a jury. He’s simply beside himself over the fact. It’s been pointed out to him that that’s the fault of his own lawyer, which has led to recriminations. So, friends, like everything Trumpian, we are going to go step by step through this issue and figure out what’s real (what the court is saying) and what’s bullshit (what’s coming out of Trump’s mouth and his lawyers’ mouths.)

Donald Trump: “If I had a jury we would win this case very easily, but I don't have a jury." pic.twitter.com/ompDNEeraU

— Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) October 4, 2023

And why doesn’t he have a jury? Alina Habba held forth on this to Eric Bolling at Newsmax. She says it’s not her fault. Hit this link and it will take you to the video.

“The world needs to understand a couple of things. We couldn’t check a box for a jury. This is the judge we got because we’re in the wrong division, because they brought it under Section 63(12) [of the New York Executive Law] and they have to understand that the $250 million is frankly less than that man’s net worth on a bad day, half a day, an hour. You saw it today when they put up his statement of financial condition, the guy didn’t need loans. He’s worth hundreds of millions of dollars in some of the worst times this country has seen. This is an absolute witch hunt.”

Lots to unpack here. We could man an expedition to the moon for a year with less to unpack than what’s here. She says, “We couldn’t check a box for a jury.” Yes and no. Judge Engoron noted up front on Monday when the trial started, neither side “asked for a jury trial.” The Messenger:

A jury trial probably would not have been available under New York Executive Law 63(12), the statute under which the case was brought. That’s because the lawsuit only seeks injunctive and equitable relief, and instead of money damages, it seeks the disgorgement of “ill-gotten gains.”

The Seventh Amendment protects the right to a jury trial in civil cases involving large cash damages, but New York State precedent holds that disgorgement is equitable.

Engoron remarked that “in any event, the remedies sought are all equitable in nature, mandating that the trial be a bench trial, one that a judge alone decides.” Trump’s attorney Alina Habba thanked the judge later in the proceedings for making that comment.

Trump’s spokesperson emphasized their view that a jury trial was never on the table.

“The Attorney General filed this case under a consumer protection statute that denies the right to a jury,” the spokesperson told The Messenger. “It is unfortunate that a jury won’t be able to hear how absurd the merits of this case are and conclude no wrongdoing ever happened.”

But the judge’s remark highlights that neither side sought to litigate the issue.

Earlier this year, New York Attorney Letitia James filed a form with a checkmark next to the field: “Trial without a jury.” Trump’s legal team didn’t file a corresponding form, and the former president may have regretted that inaction ever since.

That’s the lay of the land, right there. The attorney general filed a form requesting “trial without a jury” and Trump’s legal team did nothing. Now the question becomes, whether Trump’s legal team could have gotten him a jury trial — which he seems dying to have — had they requested one. Maybe. In any event, it’s an academic point only at this time. AG James did what she needed to do and Alina Habba did nothing. Whether that was because she made a decision to do nothing, or if she just screwed up, we’ll never know.

But on one point we can be certain: it’s not the judge’s fault that there was no jury trial. If that’s what Trump wanted, his legal team could have gone about seeing if that’s something that could have been set up for their client. Whether they would have been successful in getting Trump a jury trial, we can only speculate. But it is for certain that the judge has nothing to do with Trump having or not having a jury trial, anymore than he had to do with the valuation of Mar-a-Lago. But Trump has decided for culture war purposes to blame him for both.