The judge handling the civil fraud trial of Donald Trump in New York has fined the former US President $10,000 for violating an order not to criticize court staff.
Judge Arthur Engoron slammed the fine which is Trump’s second — after determining that comments he made to reporters during a break in the trial violated a partial gag order issued three weeks ago.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that Engoron slapped a limited gag order on Trump on October 3 after he insulted the judge’s principal law clerk in a post on his Truth Social platform.
The offending post was deleted from Truth Social but the judge fined Trump $5,000 last week for not promptly removing it from his 2024 presidential campaign website.
Read Also: Trump Fined $5,000 For Maligning Court Staff On Social Media
The latest fine came after Trump said Engoron is a ‘very partisan judge with a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is.’
Trump’s legal team claimed that the former president was not referring to the court clerk who sits next to him, but rather to witness Michael Cohen, a former attorney for Trump who is now a fierce opponent.
When the judge brought the former president to the witness stand for a brief explanation, he reiterated that he was referring to Cohen.
Following Trump’s speech, the judge declared, “The defendant was not credible,” and the fine was levied.
Shortly after, Trump exited the courtroom suddenly.
In order to obtain better bank loans and insurance terms, Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nominee in 2024, and his two oldest sons are charged with misrepresenting the worth of the Trump Organization’s real estate holdings.
The former president has repeatedly attacked Engoron, calling him a “Trump-hating judge,” but the October 3 gag order only ordered a halt to attacks on court staff.
The federal judge set to preside over Trump’s March trial for conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election also imposed a partial gag order on the former president but temporarily lifted it to give Trump’s legal team time to submit their objections.