Trump business fraud trial: Judge issues gag order
Former President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media while arriving for the second day of his civil fraud trial in New York on Oct. 3, 2023.
Kena Betancur | AFP | Getty Images
A New York judge issued a gag order Tuesday in the business fraud trial of Donald Trump after the former president shared a social media post attacking the judge’s law clerk.
“Consider this a gag order on all parties with respect to posting or publicly speaking about any member of my staff,” Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron said on the second day of Trump’s civil trial.
Trump has frequently attacked Engoron and Attorney General Letitia James, whose lawsuit against the ex-president, his family members and his company is the subject of the trial.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump targeted Engoron’s principal law clerk by sharing a social media post that included her full name and a photo of her posing with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as they both smiled.
Trump’s repost, which included additional remarks by him attacking the clerk, was deleted Tuesday afternoon.
Trump in that post had called the clerk “Schumer’s girlfriend” and accused her of “running this case against me.”
“How disgraceful!” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post. “This case should be dismissed immediately!!”
Trump mentioned Schumer and the clerk again during a break in the trial later Tuesday, as he claimed that the trial was “rigged” and “fraudulent.”
The clerk is seated almost directly across from Trump in court.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Justice Arthur Engoron of the state Supreme Court listen to opening arguments by Kevin Wallace (not seen), a lawyer in state Attorney General Letitia James’ office, during the trial of Trump, his adult sons, the Trump Organization and others in a civil fraud case brought by James, at a Manhattan courthouse, in New York City, U.S., October 2, 2023 in this courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg | Reuters
Trump’s presidential campaign then sent out a lengthy email criticizing Engoron as a “Far-Left Democrat.”
The email, entitled “Meet Judge Arthur F. Engoron,” cited numerous stories in conservative media accusing Engoron of political bias.
Trump on Tuesday said that he will testify in the trial “at the appropriate time.”
He is named as a potential witness on lists submitted by his own attorneys, and by lawyers for James.
The government’s first witness, Donald Bender, former President Donald Trump’s former accountant at Mazars USA, attends the trial of Trump, his adult sons, the Trump Organization and others in a civil fraud case brought by state Attorney General Letitia James, in New York, Oct. 3, 2023.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
Trump had already slammed James as a “fraud” and called for the case to be dismissed before the trial resumed Tuesday morning.
“And she should probably be dismissed also,” he said of James.
The attorney general accuses Trump, two of his adult sons, the Trump Organization, and top executives of fraudulently valuing real estate…
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