Judge issues gag order in Trump fraud trial after ex-president posts about law clerk
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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 judge issued a gag order Tuesday after Donald Trump attacked the judge’s law clerk on social media and in comments to reporters covering his New York business fraud trial.
“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 the former president’s civil trial.
Engoron said personal attacks on his staff were unacceptable and intolerable.
The judge was angered by Trump’s post earlier Tuesday on his Truth Social site that included disparaging comments about the clerk alongside a photo of her posing with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Trump in that post had called the clerk “Schumer’s girlfriend” and accused her of “running this case against me.”
Former President Donald Trump and Judge Arthur Engoron of New York 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, Oct. 2, 2023, in this courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg | Reuters
“How disgraceful!” Trump wrote in the post, which included the clerk’s full name. “This case should be dismissed immediately!!”
Trump mentioned Schumer and the clerk again during a break in the proceedings later that day, as he claimed that the trial was “rigged” and “fraudulent.”
The clerk is seated almost directly across from Trump in court.
Trump later deleted the post.
Also on Tuesday, Trump’s presidential campaign 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.
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 New York Attorney General Letitia 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, whose lawsuit is the subject of the case.
He had glared at James on the first day of the trial when he passed her walking out of the courtroom.
The attorney general accuses Trump, two of his adult sons, the Trump Organization, and top executives of fraudulently valuing real estate properties to obtain more favorable loan and insurance terms, and tax benefits.
In addition to seeking $250 million in damages, James is seeking a ban on Trump and his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, from running a business in New York.
The second day of trial resumed with testimony from Donald Bender, a former accountant for Trump and his business.
Trump on Tuesday said that he will testify in the trial “at the appropriate time.”
