Judge overseeing Trump's civil fraud trial was once NYC cabbie
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Before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron weighed in on the future of Donald Trump’s business empire, he did a stint as a New York City cabbie to make ends meet.
While getting his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in the ’60s, Engoron drove a taxi cab — a job he later said was his third-favorite after being a law clerk and sitting on the bench.
“I loved the freedom, the instant cash, getting to meet people, learning how to drive like a maniac without being caught,” he said back in 2012 after hearing arguments from the taxi industry urging him to block then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s outer-borough street-hail plan.
The Democratic judge revealed himself in another decision as a free-speech absolutist who has been a member of the American Civil Liberties Union since 1994, and has participated in “huge, sometimes boisterous, Vietnam War protests,” according to Fortune.
He also taught piano and drum lessons, and played the keyboard in a “moderately-successful” bar band, the outlet reported.
These days, Engoron is making upwards of $200,000 per year as a New York state Supreme Court justice, and living in the affluent Long Island village of Great Neck with his third wife and four children.
Last week, Engoron found Trump, 77, his family and his business, the Trump Organization, liable for fraud — the key claim in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ sprawling, $250 million lawsuit against the defendants.
Though the 74-year-old Democratic judge has repeatedly ruled against Trump in the three years he’s been presiding over James’ lawsuit — including when he forced Trump to sit for a daylong deposition — the two are both native New Yorkers, having been born in Queens in the late ’40s.
Representatives for Engoron did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
James’ 35-page complaint came across Engoron’s desk two decades into his career on the bench, though it’s not the first time he’s sided against the former president.
In April 2022, Engoron found Trump in contempt of court or not complying with a subpoena issued by James’ office.
Two months later, after Trump and his attorney’s met the conditions to lift the sanction, Engoron ended the contempt order — but not before the 45th president coughed up $110,000 to James’ office for failing to comply with the subpoena.
Follow along with The Post’s live blog for the latest on former President Donald Trump’s fraud trial
Starting Monday, Engoron and Trump meet again as the New York-born judge will preside over a non-jury trial in Manhattan to resolve remaining claims in the New York Attorney General’s lawsuit claiming Trump committed years of fraud by exaggerating his wealth and value of assets on financial statements that he used to get loans and make deals.
As punishment, Engoron said he would dissolve some of Trump’s companies — a decision that could stripped the former president of some of his namesake properties, including Trump Tower in Midtown.
The two-time GOP candidate called the penalties “a corporate death penalty,” and referred to Engoron as “a Deranged, Trump Hating Judge, who RAILROADED this FAKE CASE through a NYS Court at a speed never before seen,” in a rant posted to his Truth Social platform last week.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and claimed his financial statements have a disclaimer that they shouldn’t be trusted, excusing him of any potential errors.
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