Judge Fines Trump for Comment He Made Outside Courtroom
Former President Donald Trump was slapped with a fine on Wednesday for comments he made regarding his civil lawsuit.
CNN reports that Justice Arthur Engoron, who previously threatened to put Trump behind bars unless he stopped discussing his case outside the courtroom, fined the former president $10,000 for violation of a court-imposed gag order.
Engoron issued the gag order on Oct. 3 following a social media post by Trump on Truth Social of the judge’s chief clerk alongside U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, referring to her as his “girlfriend.”
“Schumer’s girlfriend, Alison R. Greenfield, is running this case against me,” he wrote in his now-deleted Truth Social post. “How disgraceful! This case should be dismissed immediately!!”
However, this fine was in reference to comments Trump made to reporters during a trial break on Wednesday in the civil lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James surrounding his alleged business practices.
“This judge is a very partisan judge with a person who is very partisan sitting alongside him — perhaps even much more partisan than he is,” he said.
Engoron said during a hearing on Wednesday that Trump’s punishment was on the “liberal” side.
“I hereby fine you $10,000 — which is on the liberal side — to be paid within 30 days,” the judge ruled.
Donald Trump claims he wasn’t referring to Judge Arthur Engoron’s clerk when he said the person sitting next to him is “very partisan,” even though Engoron’s clerk was sitting next to him.
Trump is under a gag order not to personally attack court staff. pic.twitter.com/WxnUEA8idt
— The Recount (@therecount) October 25, 2023
Last week, Engoron threatened to jail Trump for violating his gag order with his Truth Social post unless he stopped violating his gag orders. He ultimately decided to fine him $5,000.
“Incendiary untruths can and have led to serious physical harm,” Engoron said in court last Friday.
“I will now allow the defendant to explain why this should not end up with serious sanctions or I could possibly imprison him.”
Trump’s comments come after his former lawyer Michael Cohen testified against him for a second consecutive day.
Prior to being fined, Trump provided brief testimony to tell Engoron that his remarks were directed at “you and Cohen.”
The judge dismissed the claims, also argued by Trump’s attorney Christopher Kise, that Cohen was the “partisan” individual Trump was referring to.
“The idea that that statement would refer to the witness, that doesn’t make sense to me,” Engoron said. “Don’t do it again or it will be worse.”
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