Donald Trump risks finding himself behind bars if he violates a gag order again, according to Judge Engoron, who is overseeing the embattled ex-president’s civil fraud trial.
Judge Arthur Engoron caught wind of what he said was an “untrue” and “disparaging” social media post about the Judge’s clerk.
“I ordered him to remove the post immediately and he said he did take it down,” the judge told a packed courthouse on Friday (October 20).
The disparaging social media post about a key court staffer remained visible for weeks on his campaign website after the judge had ordered it deleted.
Engoron said the website’s retention of the post was a “blatant violation” of his October 3 order requiring Trump to immediately delete the offending message.
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Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial judge threatened Friday to hold the former president in contempt, raising the possibility of fining or even jailing him because a disparaging social media post about a key court staffer remained visible for weeks on his campaign website after the judge had ordered it deleted.
Judge Arthur Engoron said the website’s retention of the post was a “blatant violation” of his Oct. 3 order requiring Trump to immediately delete the offending message. The limited gag order, hours after Trump made the post on the trial’s second day, also barred him and others involved in the case from personal attacks on members of Engoron’s judicial staff.
Engoron did not immediately rule on potentially sanctioning Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, but noted that “in this current overheated climate” incendiary posts can and have led to harm.
Trump, who returned to the trial Tuesday and Wednesday after attending the first three days, wasn’t in court on Friday. During his appearance this week, he reserved his enmity for Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose fraud lawsuit is being decided at the civil trial. Neither are covered by Engoron’s limited gag order.
The limited gag order, hours after Trump made the post on the trial’s second day, also barred him and others involved in the case from personal attacks on members of Engoron’s judicial staff.
Engoron did not immediately rule on potentially sanctioning Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, but noted that “in this current overheated climate” incendiary posts can and have led to harm.
Trump, who returned to the trial Tuesday and Wednesday after attending the first three days, wasn’t in court on Friday. During his appearance this week, he reserved his enmity for Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose fraud lawsuit is being decided at the civil trial. Neither are covered by Engoron’s limited gag order.
Trump lawyer Christopher Kise blamed the “very large machine” of Trump’s presidential campaign for allowing a version of his deleted social media post to remain on his Truth Social website, calling it an unintentional oversight.
Engoron, however, said the buck ultimately stops with Trump — even if it was someone on his campaign who failed to remove the offending post.
“I’ll take this under advisement,” Engoron said after Kise explained the mechanics of how Trump’s post was able to remain online. “But I want to be clear that Donald Trump is still responsible for the large machine even if it’s a large machine.”
“Based on my understanding this was truly inadvertent,” said Chris Kise. “The Truth Social post was taken down when the court asked. Truth Social was taken down and Trump never made any more comments about court staff, but it appears no one took it down on the campaign website. It is unfortunate and I apologize on behalf of my client.”
James’ lawsuit accuses Trump and his company of duping banks and insurers by giving them heavily inflated statements of Trump’s net worth and asset values. Engoron has already ruled that Trump and his company committed fraud, but the trial involves remaining claims of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records.
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