Jan. 11 (UPI) — Closing arguments are set for Thursday morning in the New York civil fraud trial of Donald Trump following a bomb threat at the home of Judge Arthur Engoron.
The Nassau County Police Department responded to a bomb threat at Engoron’s New York home earlier in the morning. Bomb technicians were sent to the residence but the threat was determined to be unfounded.
The threat will not stop Thursday’s proceedings. Engoron and court clerk Allison Greenfield have reported receiving hundreds of threats throughout the trial.
Trump and the Trump Organization, headed by his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., face a potential $250 million penalty for committing fraud. They were found guilty in the fall of inflating the value of their real estate properties.
The former president, who is campaigning for the Republican nomination for re-election, made a late request to deliver some of the closing arguments himself. In an email, Engoron said Trump must agree that he would limit his comments to relevant issues, refrain from personal attacks or introducing new evidence and cannot make new testimony.
These limits would comply with the gag order against Trump. His attorney Chris Kise called the restrictions “very unfair.”
On Tuesday, Kise asked that the closing arguments be delayed until Jan. 29, saying Trump’s mother passed away. He later corrected that it was Trump’s mother-in-law. Mary Anne McLeod Trump died on Aug. 7, 2000.
Engoron denied the request to delay the proceeding, citing the challenges of preparing the court for Trump’s appearances. He added that another proceeding was moved out of the courtroom to make room for Thursday’s closing arguments.
Engoron extended the deadline for a response from Trump three times before saying on Wednesday that Trump will not be testifying.
“Not having heard from you by the third extended deadline (noon today), I assume that Mr. Trump will not agree to the reasonable, lawful limits I have imposed as a precondition to giving a closing statement above and beyond those given by his attorneys, and that, therefore, he will not be speaking in court tomorrow,” Engoron wrote.
