Trump assails ‘vicious, biased’ judge in N.Y. fraud case

NEW YORK — Donald Trump is lashing out at the judge handling the New York attorney general’s fraud lawsuit against him and his company, calling him “vicious, biased, and mean” in a social media post just days before the case’s first court hearing.

The former president, who has been on the losing side of Judge Arthur Engoron’s rulings in the past, coupled Friday’s criticism with complaints that — as a politician — he shouldn’t be forced to deal with legal action until after the midterm elections on Nov. 8.

In a separate case, opening statements are set for Monday in the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial after completion of jury selection Friday.

Trump, who has been laying groundwork for a possible comeback run for president in 2024, grumbled in a post on his Truth Social platform about having to deal with simultaneous court action on the eve of an election that could put Republicans back in control of one or both houses of Congress.

There are currently three active cases involving Trump or the Trump Organization in New York courts.

The company’s criminal tax fraud trial, which involves allegations that senior executives received off-the-books compensation, could last into December.

On Monday, jury selection is scheduled to begin in the Bronx in a civil lawsuit brought by protesters who say they were roughed up by Trump’s security guards.

Trump’s outburst about Engoron came in the third case, a civil lawsuit filed by Attorney General Letitia James, after an administrative judge refused Tuesday to have the matter reassigned to another judge.

Engoron, a Democrat, repeatedly had ruled against Trump in disputes over subpoenas, holding him in contempt and fining him $110,000 for being slow to turn over documents and forcing him to sit for a deposition — testimony in which Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination more than 400 times.

On Truth Social, Trump said the only person worse than James was Engoron.

“His name is Arthur Engoron & he is a vicious, biased, and mean ‘rubber stamp’ for the Communist takeover of the great & prosperous American company that I have built over a long period of years,” Trump wrote.

At a hearing scheduled for Thursday, Engoron will weigh James’ request for an independent monitor to oversee the Trump Organization’s activities after she alleged the company was taking steps to dodge potential penalties, such as incorporating a new entity named Trump Organization II.