By The opinion
26 Oct 2023, 01:45 AM EDT
Donald Trump was sanctioned for the second time, now with $10,000, after the New York judge overseeing his civil fraud trial said that the former president of the United States again violated a gag order that prohibited him from denigrating court staff.
Judge Arthur Engoron imposed the fine on the former president, after he told reporters in a Manhattan court:
“This judge is a very partisan judge with a person who is very partisan sitting next to him, perhaps even much more partisan than him,” Trump said.
It was inevitable that Donald Trump would violate Judge Arthur Engoron’s gag order. The fact that he would do it so brazenly, just outside the judge’s courtroom, is what prompted the judge to immediately confront him in court and fine him $10,000. pic.twitter.com/yjc3dYJYxy
— Donald R. Koelper (@Donald_from_HI) October 25, 2023
After this new disturbance, the judge recalled that he had for the first time prohibited any comments against members of his team on the second day of the hearing, on October 3, after Trump shared on social media a photo of the judge’s main secretary posing with the Senate majority leader, Democrat Chuck Schumer, and falsely called her the congressman’s “girlfriend.”
Before being fined, Trump briefly took the witness stand and told the judge he was referring to “you and Cohen” during his hallway remarks. ANDThe judge rejected the idea, echoed by Trump lawyer Christopher Kise, that the “partisan” person Trump mentioned was Cohen..
Donald Trump’s lawyers insisted that this was a misunderstanding: the former president was referring to Michael Cohen, seated to the judge’s left, and not to the judicial clerk, seated to the right, they said.
Keep reading:
- Judge fined Trump $5,000 for violating gag order and threatened him with jail time
- Former Trump Lawyer Kenneth Chesebro Pleads Guilty in Georgia Election Interference Case
- Trump will not go to the third Republican debate in Miami: he will hold an electoral rally in Hialeah