A bomb squad was called to the New York home of the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s $370m civil fraud trial on Friday, hours before the judge was set to hear closing arguments in the case.
Police in Nassau county on Long Island said they responded to a security incident at Judge Arthur Engoron’s residence at 5.30am ET without providing further details. Engoron and his staff have been frequent targets of vitriolic criticism from Trump throughout the case and his office has been bombarded with death threats.
On Wednesday, Trump’s legal team and Engoron clashed again over Trump’s unusual request to deliver his own closing arguments at the trial. Engoron refused to allow Trump to speak after his lawyers declined to confirm he would not use the opportunity to deliver “a campaign speech”, or “impugn myself, my staff, plaintiff, plaintiff’s staff, or the New York state court system”.
Trump is still expected to attend Thursday’s hearing.
The closing statements come after an 11-week civil trial examining financial statements made by Trump’s family business. Engoron has already ruled that the Trump Organization committed fraud and is now assessing what penalty should be levied.
Ahead of the day’s hearing, the New York attorney general, Letitia James – who brought the case against Trump – said: “Before this trial began, the court ruled in our favor and found that Donald Trump engaged in years of significant financial fraud and unjustly enriched himself and his family. Throughout this trial, we revealed the full scale and scope of that fraud. I am proud of the case we presented, and I am confident that the facts and the rule of law are on our side.”
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Outside the courthouse protestors holding a sign reading “No Dictators in the USA” briefly blocked traffic before being moved on by police.
