On Wednesday afternoon, a person set fire to the State Supreme Court Building in New York, triggering fire alarms and forcing an immediate evacuation. According to Al Baker, a court spokesperson, the individual was discovered burning papers in the courtroom.
Just after 4 p.m., a tiny fire broke out at the Lower Manhattan monument, and firefighters responded promptly to extinguish the flames. According to ABC7 New York, a transient but noticeable haze swept across the stairway on floors three and four.
For over three months, the historic courthouse—which was used in the TV show “Law & Order” and others—has served as the location for former President Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial. The evacuation took place a few hours after the day’s testimony ended.
The New York City Fire Department recorded 17 minor injuries, with two patients being transferred to a downtown hospital. The majority of them refused therapy.
Evacuees from the building, including sitting Judge Arthur Engoron, were allowed to return shortly after. The courthouse was not evacuated while Trump was present. The trial’s attorneys will present their closing arguments next month.
Trump’s attorney and spokesperson, Alina Habba, criticized New York Attorney General Letitia James for initiating the $250 million lawsuit against Trump earlier this month.
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELAfter accusing Trump and his adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, of inflating and deflating the value of the business in order to obtain more favorable loan and interest rates, James is leading the case.
“She’s just not that bright. I’m sorry, I have to say it,” Habba said on Newsmax TV, adding that she doesn’t think James has a strong case. “I’ve seen their case; I’ve seen their lawyers. They don’t know what they’re talking about.”
The case’s presiding judge, Judge Engoron, previously concluded in September that Trump was guilty of bank fraud, but he’s been openly hostile to the former president and his defense team throughout the trial.
“Just because a bank who’s giving you a loan says it’s worth what the loan amount is, which is what happens when anybody takes a loan out, they’re never going to say the real value,” she said in an interview with The Hill. “They’re going to say what they want to say and not a penny more, or what the loan amount is and not a penny more.”
“She needs to educate herself, maybe go to some — I don’t even know how to express how ridiculous this is,” Habba went on to say. “It’s like being in a circus with a bunch of — I mean, what I want to say I can’t say on TV, but it’s crazy. You know, it’s just ridiculous. Anybody with a brain understands that this is just completely insane.”
Trump took the stand earlier this week and battled with Engoron several times throughout the roughly four hours of evidence. He also made some verbal jabs at James, who was present in the courtroom.
While many have projected that Engoron will eventually convict Trump, Habba stated earlier this month that the former president doing time in prison is “not even something we think about.”
When Newsmax’s Carl Higbie questioned Habba if Trump might go to jail for violating one of the gag orders, she replied, “He’s protected by the Secret Service, period.”
“So, I always tell people when they’re panicked, ‘Listen, he’s protected by Secret Service, number one. Number two, he did nothing wrong.’ So, when people go to jail, it’s because they’ve done something wrong. Do we have crooked situations in and out of court? Absolutely. Could they try? Probably, but it won’t work because there is still a trial process, there is still facts, and unfortunately, they’re not going to win on the facts,” she added.
“Secret Service will always protect President Trump,” she continued. “That’s the truth, they have to wherever he is, but it’s not even something we think about, to be honest, because this is all political. It’s really not— there’s no criminal acts that he’s done. There’s no civil wrongs that he’s done, unless making money for banks is a civil wrong all of a sudden.”
“Orange man bad,” Higbie replied, to which Habba responded, “It’s Trump derangement syndrome at its best. I’m not worried about him, he’s not worried, and the American public shouldn’t be worried.”
