Judge Imposes Gag Order On Donald Trump's Lawyers For Disparaging His Staff During $250 Million Civil Fraud Trial
Nov. 3 2023, Published 4:50 p.m. ET
Judge Arthur Engoron has expanded the gag order in Donald Trump's civil fraud trial to include his attorneys.
The written order, issued on Friday, September 3, prohibits Trump's attorneys from commenting on confidential communications between the judge and his staff, both inside and outside the courtroom.
Donald Trump has his own gag order to deal with.
The judge cited the need to protect his staff from threats and physical harm, stating that the First Amendment right of defendants and their attorneys to comment on his staff is outweighed by this need. Violating the order will result in serious sanctions.
The gag order was initially enforced during the first week of the trial, after Trump posted on social media attacking the judge's clerk and sharing a picture of her with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Engoron has already fined Trump twice for breaking the order — $5,000 for not taking down the post from his website and $10,000 for referring to the clerk in statements to reporters.
Judge Engoron, so far, has fined Trump $15,000.
Throughout the trial, Trump's legal team has clashed with Engoron regarding his clerk, accusing her of influencing the judge and displaying unfair behavior such as eye-rolling during testimony.
Trump attorney Chris Kise raised concerns about what he described as "co-judging," stating that someone was frequently providing the judge with information during the trial.
Engoron defended his actions, stating that he has the right to seek counsel from his clerk and that Trump's legal team has no right to know about their communications. He emphasized that the notes he receives from his clerk are confidential.
Donald Trump's lawyers now have their own gag orders against them.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Trump has attacked Judge Engoron multiple times outside of the courtroom and on his social media platform, Truth Social. The former president has previously demanded the judge be "taken off" the New York trial calling him "unhinged" and a "partisan political hack."
"My daughter, Ivanka, was released from this Fake Letitia James case by the Court of Appeals, but this Trump-Hating, Unhinged Judge, who ruled me guilty before this Witch Hunt Trial even started, couldn’t care less about the fact that he was overturned," Trump wrote to his 6.3 million followers on Truth Social.
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"I also won on Appeal on Statute of Limitations, but he refuses to accept their decision. I truly believe he is CRAZY, but certainly, at a minimum, CRAZED in his hatred of me. This case should have never started, but now must be dismissed. Financial Statements were LOW, NOT HIGH, had a 100% Disclaimer Clause, Banks were fully paid, 'on time, on schedule,' with never even a minor default, there was NO VICTIM, EXCEPT ME," he continued. "Any other Judge in the Country would have thrown this case out on day one."
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"Using imprecise language as an excuse to create plausible ambiguity about whether the defendant violated this Court’s unequivocal gag order is not a defense; the subject of Donald Trump’s public statement to the press was unmistakably clear,” the judge wrote in an order expanding on the ruling. “As the trier of fact, I find that Donald Trump was referring to my Principal Law Clerk, as such, he has intentionally violated the gag order.”
