Welcome back, Deadline: Legal Newsletter readers. It was another wild week in the legal world of Donald Trump, with action in all four of the leading GOP presidential candidate’s criminal cases — including at the Supreme Court. Plus, the former president and his civil co-defendants (including his adult sons) got hit with a whopping ruling in the civil fraud case.
Judge Arthur Engoron ordered more than $350 million in penalties in that New York civil case, along with temporary New York business bars for Eric, Don Jr. and Trump himself. In a scathing opinion, the state judge observed the defendants’ “complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological.” The judge conceded that Trump isn’t Bernie Madoff, but went on to write that the defendants “are incapable of admitting the error of their ways.”
On Trump’s criminal immunity claim, he waited until his Monday deadline to ask the justices to keep the federal election interference case paused while he keeps appealing. Special counsel Jack Smith responded ahead of his deadline to oppose further delay, while floating a backup option of the justices treating Trump’s stay application as a petition for review, granting it and expediting a decision on the immunity issue that’s been holding up the trial. We could hear from the justices any time on their decision.
Meanwhile, we have a date in New York. On Thursday in Manhattan state court, Judge Juan Merchan made clear that Trump will stand trial later next month on March 25. That means the hush money case for alleged 2016 election interference will be the first criminal trial against a former president. He’s charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records for allegedly attempting to cover up hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election that vaulted him into the White House.
Then there’s Georgia. It’s an understatement to call this week’s disqualification hearing dramatic. Fulton County District…
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