A New York judge fined former President Donald Trump $10,000 for violating his gag order for the second time, according to The Associated Press.
Trump took the witness stand Wednesday after Judge Arthur Engoron suggested he violated a gag order restricting him from making statements about court staff, according to the AP. Trump told reporters between proceedings in his civil fraud trial Wednesday that the judge “is a very partisan judge with a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is,” according to Politico.
Engoron took the “very partisan” person sitting alongside him to refer to Allison Greenfield, his clerk. The gag order was initially imposed on Trump after he made a Truth Social post referencing Greenfield as Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s “girlfriend.”
Trump said the statement was a reference to Michael Cohen, his former lawyer who testified against him Wednesday, according to The Hill. Engoron found that “the witness is not credible” and imposed the $10,000 fine over the objection of Trump’s attorney, Chris Kise, the outlet reported.
Last week, Engoron threatened jail time after discovering Trump had left the post about Greenfield up on his campaign website for 17 days after the gag order was issued, removing it only after an email from the court. He ultimately imposed a $5,000 fine for the violation, which Engoron noted was “inadvertent.”
“In the current overheated climate, incendiary untruths can, and in some cases already have, led to serious physical harm, and worse,” Engoron wrote in the Oct. 20 filing. “Donald Trump has received ample warning from this Court as to the possible repercussions of violating the gag order.”
Engoron found in September that Trump deceived banks and insurance companies by exaggerating his worth and the value of his assets.
Katelynn Richardson on October 25, 2023
