Former US President Donald Trump looks on as the trial of himself, his adult children, the Trump Organization and others continues in a civil fraud case brought by state Attorney General Letitia James , in New York City, US, October 3, 2023.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
A New York appeals court on Thursday reinstated a gag order against Donald Trump in the former president’s $250 million business fraud trial.
The order bars Trump from making public statements about the staff of Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the current trial.
Engoron imposed the gag order on Trump, and later expanded it to cover his lawyers, after they repeatedly targeted the judge’s chief law clerk, Allison Greenfield.
Engoron said his chambers were “flooded” with threats and harassment against him and his staff during the trial. An official who monitors threats for the New York Court System’s Department of Public Safety told the appeals court in a sworn statement that Trump’s comments about Greenfield prompted “hundreds” of messages threatening, many of which are antisemitic.
In Thursday’s ruling, the four-judge appellate panel lifted a temporary suspension of the gag orders, which had been put in place while Trump appealed the speech restrictions.
The one-line decision came three days after Trump’s lawyers urged an appeals court not to re-enforce the gag orders, arguing that they unconstitutionally blocked Trump from indicting Engoron and Greenfield of political bias.
Engoron found Trump violated the gag order twice, imposing a total of $15,000 in fines on the former president since the fraud trial began in early October.
The narrow injunction does not prevent Trump from attacking Engoron or New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought a lawsuit accusing her and her co-defendants of misappropriating Trump’s assets. for financial gain.
Trump has repeatedly attacked the two, calling the judge a Trump “hater” and denouncing the case as a “witch hunt.”
On Wednesday, Trump sent at least six separate Truth Social posts targeting Engoron’s wife, accusing her of criticizing Trump and commenting on the X trial, previously on Twitter. Engoron’s wife said Newsweek earlier this month that he did not have an X account and did not post any anti-Trump messages.
Trump sent at least three additional posts Thursday saying Engoron’s wife sent anti-Trump messages on social media.
Engoron has already found Trump, his two adult children, the Trump Organization and its top executives liable for fraudulently misrepresenting the values of real estate properties and other assets . The trial will determine penalties and resolve other claims of wrongdoing in James’ lawsuit.
In addition to seeking approximately $250 million in damages, James wants to permanently bar Trump Sr., Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump running a business in New York.
Engoron on Thursday morning extended the trial’s scheduled end from mid-December. He set closing arguments for Jan. 11 after Trump’s lawyers asked for more time to prepare.
The defense is expected to call Trump back to the stand as its final witness on Dec. 11. Engoron plans to issue a verdict in the case several weeks after the trial.
