The New York judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial expanded his gag order Friday to include Trump’s attorneys.
Judge Arthur Engoron issued an order Friday barring Trump’s attorneys from making “any public comments about court staff” referring to “confidential communications” between him and his staff. Engoron said the attorneys on Trump’s legal team — Christopher Kise, Clifford Robert and Alina Habba — have made “on the record, repeated, inappropriate remarks” about his law clerk “falsely accusing her of bias against them and of improperly influencing the ongoing bench trial.”
Engoron first issued a gag order against Trump in early October after he made a post on Truth Social referencing Allison Greenfield, Engoron’s clerk, as Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s “girlfriend.” (RELATED: New York Judge Fines Trump $10,000 For Second Gag Order Violation In Civil Fraud Case)
TOPSHOT – Former US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he takes a break during his civil fraud trial in New York City on October 18, 2023. (Photo by ALEX KENT/AFP via Getty Images)
“As I have stated, seemingly to no avail, my law clerks are public servants who are performing their jobs in the manner in which I request,” Engoron wrote in the order Friday. “This includes providing legal authority and opinions, as well as responding to questions I pose to them.”
Trump has already been hit twice with fines of $5,000 and $10,000 for violating his gag order. The first was for failing to remove the Truth Social post from his campaign website for 17 days, and the second was a result of comments he made to reporters outside the courtroom, calling the person sitting beside Engoron “very partisan.”
“Since the commencement of this bench trial, my chambers have been inundated with hundreds of harassing and threatening phone calls, voicemails, emails, letters and packages,” Engoron continued in the order Friday. “The First Amendment right of defendants and their attorneys to comment on my staff is far and away outweighed by the need to protect them from threats and physical harm.”
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