"The most famous judge in America, for a while," on highs and lows of a Trump trial

Justice Arthur Engoron was walking his dog in the early-morning darkness on Jan. 11, 2024, when he saw police lights in the distance, a lot of them. The New York Supreme Court judge realized they were descending on his home. "There's been a credible bomb threat against your house. Is there anybody else in the house?" Engoron recalled a police lieutenant asking. Yes, he replied, his wife and kids. He roused them. They walked away from the house in the cold winter air. A few hours later, Engoron was in his courtroom, on the bench in front of the most famous and powerful defendant in U.S. history — Donald Trump. In a fitting finale to what had been a dramatic civil fraud trial, marked by near-daily shouting, hundreds upon hundreds of objections , and campaign antics, then-former President Trump went against the judge's instructions to deliver his own closing argument. Now retired, Engoron sat down with CBS News for his first on-camera interview since the 2023 trial, reflecting on his career and the highs and lows of his moment in the spotlight. He sees a thread from that trial to the wider, harsh public discourse around judges today. It's an environment that led the U.S. Marshals Service recently to ask Congress for increased funds for federal judicial security, citing increased threats. "I think that there will be some people that will be less inclined to become judges because the threat level has apparently increased," Engoron said. …