New York – The judge hearing a massive civil fraud lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, his businesses and three of his adult children on Thursday ordered the appointment of a monitor with sweeping authority to oversee all Trump-related business operations.
Acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron issued the ruling after hearing arguments from the New York Attorney General’s Office, which filed the lawsuit and sought the appointment, and a lawyer for Trump, who said the Attorney General’ lacked the authority and legal standing to seek a preliminary injunction appointing the monitor and to pursue the lawsuit.
“Defendants are wrong,” wrote Engoron, whom Trump’s legal team has sought unsuccessfully to have removed from hearing the case.
Engoron’s ruling preliminarily bars the Trump businesses from selling, transferring or disposing of non-cash assets without first providing 14 days written notice to the Attorney General’s office and the court. It also orders appointment of a monitor to ensure compliance with the order.
Trump businesses must give the monitor access to financial statements, statements of financial condition and “full and accurate descriptions of the structure and liquid and illiquid holdings and assets for the Trump Organization” and its subsidiaries and affiliates, the state trial court judge ordered.
The businesses must give the monitor at least a 30-day advance notification of any planned reorganization or restructuring of the…
