Trump Fined for Violating Gag Order … Again
Judge Arthur Engoron fined Donald Trump $10,000 on Wednesday after the former president once again violated a gag order put in place by the judge during his New York civil fraud trial.
Earlier this month Engoron, who is overseeing the bench trial, slapped Trump with a narrowly tailored gag order barring him from engaging in personal attacks on court staff after Trump publicly attacked one of his clerks. The former president has not complied.
Last week, Engoron fined Trump $5,000 dollars and threatened to revoke his bail after the former president failed to delete a copy of the Truth Social post attacking his clerk from his campaign website.
On Wednesday, Engoron leveled a $10,000 fine against the former president after he said while speaking to reporters outside of the courtroom that Engoron is “a very partisan judge, with a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is.”
The judge interpreted the comment as having been directed toward his clerk, while attorneys for the former president argued that it was directed at Michel Cohen, Trump’s former fixer who was cross-examined during the trial.
Donald Trump claims he wasn't referring to Judge Arthur Engoron's clerk when he said the person sitting next to him is “very partisan,” even though Engoron's clerk was sitting next to him.
Trump is under a gag order not to personally attack court staff. pic.twitter.com/WxnUEA8idt— The Recount (@therecount) October 25, 2023
“Why should there not be severe sanctions for this blatant, dangerous disobey of a clear court order?” Engoron asked Trump’s attorneys.
Following the judge’s decision to sanction him, Trump told reporters that he hadn’t violated the gag order, but that he couldn’t discuss the conversation that had taken place with the judge in his chamber.
Earlier in the day, Trump leveled an attack against Engoron, something that is not restricted by the gag order. “ I have a very partisan and angry Judge, a Corrupt Attorney General, and am not allowed a Jury Trial under the Statute they have chosen to use (for the very first time ever!),” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This is a RIGGED TRIAL, right out of a Banana Republic, but sadly, it gives the Republicans the right to do the same thing when we assume office.”
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