Donald Trump Threatened With Jail Time After 'Blatant Violation' of Judge's Gag Order in New York Fraud Case
Oct. 20 2023, Published 1:22 p.m. ET
Ex-president Donald Trump was threatened with jail time over his violation of a partial gag order issued in his $250 million New York fraud case, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Judge Arthur Engoron previously issued the partial gag order after Trump attacked a member of his staff and shared her personal information on Truth Social.
On Friday, the Manhattan judge touted the idea of heavy sanctions or even jail time for Trump in response to his "blatant violation" of the partial gag order.
"Last night I learned the offending post was never removed from a website," Engoron said in reference to Trump's post about his clerk, which he ordered to be removed from Truth Social, however, the post remained on Trump's website for over two weeks.
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"This is a blatant violation of the gag order. I made it clear failure to comply will result in serious sanctions," the judge continued. "It remained on the Donald J. Trump campaign site and in fact it has been on there for the past 17 days, [and] it was removed late last night after an email from this court."
Reporting from Medias Touch on Thursday brought the post's feature on Trump's website to light and both sides were soon alerted of its existence.
"Incendiary untruths can and have led to serious physical harm," Engoron said. "I will now allow the defendant to explain why this should not end up with serious sanctions or I could possibly imprison him."
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Trump's attorney Christopher Kise apologized on his behalf and claimed that the violation was "truly inadvertent," though Trump has a tendency to intentionally double-down on claims.
Engoron told Kise that his comments were "under advisement" and that Trump "is still responsible for what appears on the site."
"I want to make clear that Mr. Trump is responsible for the large machine, even if it is a large machine," the judge added.
While Kise claimed that the post remaining on the campaign website was unintentional, it represented a pattern of spreading baseless or false claims against those he viewed as his enemies. In addition to posts on Truth Social, Trump has taken his claims to his website and campaign email list.
Engoron previously noted that Trump shared the Truth Social post in a campaign email blast when he initially issued the partial gag order.
Trump was not in court on Friday to hear the judge's admonishment, though he was in court earlier this week. While speaking to press at the courthouse, he claimed prosecutors wanted to keep him off the campaign trial — and then minutes later admitted he was traveling to his Miami golf club, Doral, for a tournament this weekend.