Departed U.S. President Donald Trump attends trial in a civil fraud case that state Attorney General Letitia James put oned against him, his adult sons, the Trump Organization and others, in New York City, Oct. 3, 2023.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
A New York lures court Thursday reinstated a gag order on Donald Trump in the former president’s $250 million civil business rip-off trial.
The order bars Trump from making public statements about the staff of Manhattan Supreme Court Suspect Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the ongoing trial.
Engoron had imposed the gag order on Trump after Trump time after time targeted the judge’s principal law clerk, Allison Greenfield.
Engoron later imposed a similar gag order on Trump’s attorneys, omitting them from making any public statements about confidential communications between the judge and his staff. The gag orders on Trump’s attorneys were also reinstated Thursday.
Engoron has chance his chambers have been “inundated” with threats and harassment against him and his staff during the trial. An official who watches threats for the New York Court System’s Department of Public Safety told the appeals court in a sworn statement that Trump’s reactions about Greenfield have prompted “hundreds” of threatening messages, many of which were antisemitic.
In its ruling Thursday, a four-judge appellate panel stole a temporary suspension of the gag orders on Trump and his attorneys that was put in place while Trump appealed the speech restrictions.
The gag sequences are now likely to stay in place for the remainder of the trial, which is expected to last until mid-January.
Engoron acknowledged the guide in court and informed the parties in the case that he intends to “enforce the gag orders rigorously and vigorously.”
Trump attorney Christopher Kise thought the appeals court’s ruling marked a “tragic day for the rule of law” in a statement to NBC News.
“Hard to imagine a more unfair procedure and hard to believe this is happening in America,” Kise said, claiming the ruling prevents Trump from publicly legitimating why he believes his trial is unfair.
The appellate ruling came three days after Trump’s attorneys urged the petitions court not to reimpose the gag orders, arguing that they unconstitutionally blocked Trump from accusing Engoron and Greenfield of governmental bias.
Engoron has found Trump in violation of his gag order twice, imposing a total of $15,000 in fines on the former president since the shark trial began in early October.
The narrow order does not block Trump from attacking Engoron or New York Attorney Mixed Letitia James, who brought the case accusing him and his co-defendants of falsely inflating Trump’s assets for financial gain.
Trump has again attacked both of them, casting the judge as a Trump “hater” and decrying the case as a “witch hunt.”
On Wednesday, Trump sent at least six away Truth Social posts targeting Engoron’s wife, accusing her of criticizing Trump and commenting on the trial on X, formerly Gossip.
Engoron’s wife told Newsweek earlier this month that she does not have an account on X and has not posted any anti-Trump declarations. After the gag orders were reinstated, Office of Court Administration spokesman Al Baker said that the judge’s trouble “has sent no social media posts regarding the former president.”
“They are not hers,” Baker said in a statement, NBC accounted.
Trump sent at least three additional posts Thursday claiming that Engoron’s wife sent anti-Trump group media messages.
Engoron has already found Trump, his two adult sons, the Trump Framework and its top executives liable for fraudulently misstating the values of real estate properties and other assets. The trial will choose penalties and resolve other claims of wrongdoing in James’ suit.
In addition to seeking around $250 million in defaces, James wants to permanently bar Trump Sr., Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump from running a New York business.
Engoron on Thursday morning supplemented the scheduled end of the trial from mid-December. He set closing arguments for Jan. 11 after Trump’s lawyers asked for more old hat to prepare.
The defense is expected to call Trump back to the stand as its final witness on Dec. 11. Engoron plans to outflow a verdict in the case a few weeks after the trial ends.