The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s $250 million civil fraud trial fined the former president $5,000 and suggested the possibility of imprisonment for disregarding a partial gag order. The order required Trump to remove a social media post that criticized the judge’s law clerk.
Judge Arthur Engoron expressed his anger when he discovered that Trump had not complied with the order, raising the issue of potentially imprisoning him. Engoron stated that Trump had posted “an untrue and disparaging post about my clerk” and had been ordered to remove it immediately. Trump claimed to have taken it down, but the judge found that the post remained on his campaign website for 17 days, only being removed after the court contacted him.
Engoron issued a $5,000 fine and warned Trump of more severe penalties, including contempt of court and imprisonment, for any future violations of the gag order. Engoron emphasized the potential harm caused by false statements and called on Trump to make his case against further sanctions.
Trump’s defense attorney, Chris Kise, argued that the violation was inadvertent and apologized on behalf of his client. Kise acknowledged that the post had been taken down from Truth Social but remained on the campaign website due to oversight.
In his posts and public remarks, Trump also made unfounded accusations about the clerk’s relationship with Senator Chuck Schumer. Schumer’s spokesperson denied the claim, calling it false and absurd.
This incident is not the only legal trouble for Trump, as he also faces a partial gag order in one of his criminal cases. Judge Tanya Chutkan temporarily paused the gag order, granting Trump’s request to protect his First Amendment rights.
The civil fraud trial, initiated by New York Attorney General Letitia James in September 2022, alleges that Trump and his sons engaged in fraudulent activities to inflate his net worth. Over 200 instances of fraud are alleged to have occurred over a decade. The attorney general seeks $250 million in penalties and restrictions on Trump’s business activities in New York.
In a ruling allowing the trial to proceed, Engoron determined that Trump had committed fraud over an extended period, manipulating the value of his assets for personal gain. The article was originally published on NBCNews.com.
