The Daily Fuckup

Donald Trump’s effort to postpone his New York civil fraud trial failed again on Thursday, when a state appellate panel denied his request for a stay. The ruling left the case on schedule to begin Monday, Oct. 2, 2023, after a Sept. 26 summary-judgment decision in which Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump and the Trump Organization liable for fraud on the first cause of action.

The appellate panel did not issue a detailed explanation. Its order meant the trial would move ahead as planned while Trump continued to press his challenge to the earlier ruling. The case centers on allegations that Trump and his company inflated asset values in financial statements and other documents used in business dealings.

The timing mattered because the trial was set to open with the liability ruling already in place. Damages and remedies were still to be decided, but the court had already resolved the core fraud claim for trial purposes. That left Trump facing a proceeding that would turn to what penalties, if any, should follow from the earlier finding.

Trump has denied wrongdoing and is fighting the case on appeal. The stay denial did not end that fight, but it did remove one path to delay the trial itself. With jury selection and testimony set to begin Oct. 2, the dispute moved into its next stage on the court’s schedule, not his.