Judge Arthur Engoron, who presided over the $370 million civil fraud case against former President Donald Trump and his company, is expected to issue his verdict in the trial by the end of the week, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told NBC News.
“It is currently anticipated the Engoron decision will be released on Friday, barring unforeseen circumstances,” the person said on Tuesday.
The new target date was previously reported by The New York Times.
Engoron had earlier said that he hoped to issue his ruling in the monthslong trial by Jan. 31, but a spokesman for the state court system told NBC News this month it was looking more like “early to mid-February.”
The highly anticipated ruling will cap a trial that started Oct. 2 and included testimony from the former president and his three oldest children, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump. Closing arguments in the case, in which New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office alleged Trump and top officials committed persistent fraud by inflating financial statements, took place Jan. 11.
The judge has already found that Trump and his executives engaged in fraud. He now needs to decide on the issue of intent and what penalties Trump and his company should pay. The attorney general is seeking $370 million and a ban on Trump from conducting further business in the New York real estate industry where he made his name, among other penalties.
Trump, who has called the case a politically motivated “fraud on me,” has denied any wrongdoing.
If the ruling comes Friday, it will mark the end of a busy court week for Trump. He attended a closed door hearing on Monday involving classified evidence in a federal criminal case charging him with mishandling national security information, and is expected to appear in New York criminal court on Thursday for a pre-trial hearing in a case alleging he falsified business records tied to hush money payments.
There’s also hearing in Georgia on Thursday involving Trump and his co-defendants’ bid to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from her election interference racketeering case. That hearing is expected to continue into Friday.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in all three criminal cases.
