N.Y. JUDGE FINES TRUMP FOR VIOLATING GAG ORDER
In separate case, federal judge puts such order on hold
The judge presiding over the civil fraud trial of Donald Trump fined the former president $5,000 on Friday for a “blatant violation” of a gag order imposed this month.
The judge, Arthur Engoron, stopped short of holding Trump in contempt but warned that the former president still could face harsher punishments, even jail time, if he ran afoul of the order again.
In the trial's opening days, Engoron had barred Trump from attacking his court staff after the former president posted a picture on social media of Engoron's law clerk, Allison Greenfield, with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the majority leader. Trump labeled Greenfield “Schumer's girlfriend” and said she was “running this case against me.”
A spokesperson for Schumer this month called the social media post “ridiculous, absurd and false,” adding that the senator did not know Greenfield.
Trump's post was removed from his social media platform, Truth Social, on Oct. 3, the day Engoron imposed the gag order, but a
copy of the post remained visible on his campaign website.
The post was finally removed from the website around 10 p.m. Thursday, after Engoron learned of it and contacted Trump's legal team. A lawyer for Trump, Christopher Kise, said in court Friday that the failure to remove the post sooner was “inadvertent.” He apologized on behalf of Trump.
In a new order Friday, Engoron said he had imposed only a “nominal” $5,000 fine because it was Trump's first violation and an unintentional error, but he warned that additional infractions would merit harsher punishments.
“Make no mistake: future violations, whether intentional or unintentional, will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions,” Engoron wrote. He said possible punishments included
steeper fines, holding Trump in contempt of court and “possibly imprisoning him.”
The judge added that, “In the current overheated climate, incendiary untruths can, and in some cases already have, led to serious physical harm, and worse.”
Trump, who has frequently attacked judges, prosecutors and witnesses in the civil and criminal cases against him, has been subject to limitations on his speech not only in the Manhattan fraud case, but a federal case in which he is accused of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
In that case, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan agreed Friday to temporarily lift a narrow gag order that she had issued Monday. The ruling gives Trump's lawyers time to prove why the former president's comments should not be restricted as the case heads toward trial.
Chutkan said the gag order would remain on hold — for now — while she considers Trump's bid to speak freely about the case while he challenges the restrictions in higher courts.
Chutkan order had barred Trump from making public statements targeting prosecutors, court staff and potential witnesses. It's the most serious restriction a court has placed on Trump's inflammatory rhetoric, which has become a centerpiece of his grievance-filled campaign to return to the White House.
Trump's lawyers, who quickly appealed the ruling to the D.C. Circuit Court, wrote in court papers Friday that neither prosecutors nor the judge have “come close” to justifying the gag order, adding that the former president “has not unlawfully threatened or harassed anyone.”
The judges overseeing the cases must strike a balance between respecting the First Amendment rights of a man seeking the White House again and keeping their courts orderly and dignified.
They also must consider what would be an effective punishment — and deterrent — for a man who estimates his net worth in the billions.