Politico reports:

Donald Trump’s trial calendar is a delicate balancing act, one that could be upended by the possible delay of the first in a long string of Trump trials scheduled to begin early next month, the New York attorney general’s office argued in a court filing.

The attorney general’s office wrote that any delay in its upcoming civil fraud trial against Trump, which is set to begin Oct. 2, “is likely to create a cascade of delays in not only this case but also other litigations involving petitioner Donald J. Trump.”

Attorney General Tish James is suing Trump, his company, his adult sons and some of his business associates for allegedly inflating his net worth in an effort to fraudulently obtain favorable terms from banks and insurance companies.

The office’s filing came in response to a lawsuit that Trump filed earlier this month against the judge overseeing the upcoming fraud trial and the attorney general’s office. Trump’s lawsuit accuses the judge, Arthur Engoron, of failing to comply with an earlier appeals court decision that Trump argues limits the scope of the case against him.

Trump’s maneuver prompted a New York appellate judge last Thursday to order an interim stay of the fraud trial without “any determination of the merits” of Trump’s accusations against Engoron. The appellate judge, David Friedman, ordered the appellate court to review Trump’s lawsuit on an expedited basis. That court will likely rule next week on whether Trump’s fraud trial may proceed as scheduled in early October. [Continue reading…]