Appeals court reinstates gag order that barred Trump from maligning court staff in NY fraud trial

Left me there. It was *** dramatic and unexpected day in the civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James against Donald Trump. Donald Trump was told to take the stand with very little warning and then he was fined $10,000 for insulting the judge's law clerk. Previously, Trump had been issued *** gag order because he despaired the clerk on social media. He was accused of violating that gag order today when he went outside the courtroom and told the press that he had problems with both the very partisan judge and the partisan who was sitting next to the judge with *** person who and he didn't, he didn't say exactly who that person was. And his attorneys claim that actually he was talking about Michael Cohen, his former fixer who was on the stand today for the second straight day. Trump took the stand. He maintained he was talking about Cohen, but the judge said that his testimony was not credible and he issued that $10,000 fine. *** few minutes later, Trump apparently frustrated, threw his hands in the air and he walked out of the courtroom seeming to surprise his secret service. His lawyers at that point asked for the judge to basically end the trial saying Cohen had proven himself not credible. And the judge replied, absolutely not. Today, the lawyers really pushed him on whether or not he had committed perjury in past testimony, whether or not he stands by his claims about Trump, not necessarily telling him to inflate his assets. At one point, Cohen kind of just went silent. He stopped responding to the attorneys and eventually he kind of conceded that Trump had not explicitly told him to inflate his assets. This is *** key point in the trial later on. He said, well, Trump talks like *** mob boss, you kind of know what he means. Even if I said before, he didn't explicitly tell me that I understood what was expected of me.

A New York appeals court Thursday reinstated a gag order that barred Donald Trump from commenting about court personnel after he disparaged a law clerk in his New York civil fraud trial.Video above: AP Explains: Trump fined $10,000 for violating previous gag orderThe decision from a four-judge panel came two weeks after an individual appellate judge had put the order on hold while the appeals process played out.There was no immediate comment from Trump's lawyers.The trial judge, Arthur Engoron, imposed the gag order Oct. 3 after Trump posted a derogatory comment about the judge’s law clerk to social media. The post, which included a baseless allegation about the clerk's personal life, came the second day of the trial in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit.James alleges Trump exaggerated his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals. Trump denies any wrongdoing. The former president, the front-runner for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination, contends the lawsuit is a political attack by James, a Democrat.Engoron later fined Trump $15,000 for violating the gag order and expanded it to include his lawyers after they questioned clerk Allison Greenfield’s prominent role on the bench, where she sits alongside the judge, exchanging notes and advising him during testimony.Trump’s lawyers filed a lawsuit against Engoron that challenged his gag order as an abuse of power.State lawyers had sought to tie Trump’s comments to an uptick in nasty calls and messages directed at the judge and law clerk.A court security captain wrote in an affidavit submitted to the appeals court last week that Greenfield has been receiving 20-30 calls per day to her personal cell phone and 30-50 messages per day on social media, LinkedIn and to two personal email addresses.Since the gag order was lifted, the captain said, about half of the harassing and disparaging messages Greenfield received were antisemitic. The captain reported that the hundreds of harassing voicemails she received were the equivalent of a transcript with 275 single-spaced pages.Trump had posted about Greenfield as recently as Wednesday, referring to the judge's “very disturbed and angry law clerk."

NEW YORK —

A New York appeals court Thursday reinstated a gag order that barred Donald Trump from commenting about court personnel after he disparaged a law clerk in his New York civil fraud trial.

Video above: AP Explains: Trump fined $10,000 for violating previous gag order

The decision from a four-judge panel came two weeks after an individual appellate judge had put the order on hold while the appeals process played out.

There was no immediate comment from Trump's lawyers.

The trial judge, Arthur Engoron, imposed the gag order Oct. 3 after Trump posted a derogatory comment about the judge’s law clerk to social media. The post, which included a baseless allegation about the clerk's personal life, came the second day of the trial in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit.

James alleges Trump exaggerated his wealth on financial statements used to secure loans and make deals. Trump denies any wrongdoing. The former president, the front-runner for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination, contends the lawsuit is a political attack by James, a Democrat.

Engoron later fined Trump $15,000 for violating the gag order and expanded it to include his lawyers after they questioned clerk Allison Greenfield’s prominent role on the bench, where she sits alongside the judge, exchanging notes and advising him during testimony.

Trump’s lawyers filed a lawsuit against Engoron that challenged his gag order as an abuse of power.

State lawyers had sought to tie Trump’s comments to an uptick in nasty calls and messages directed at the judge and law clerk.

A court security captain wrote in an affidavit submitted to the appeals court last week that Greenfield has been receiving 20-30 calls per day to her personal cell phone and 30-50 messages per day on social media, LinkedIn and to two personal email addresses.

Since the gag order was lifted, the captain said, about half of the harassing and disparaging messages Greenfield received were antisemitic. The captain reported that the hundreds of harassing voicemails she received were the equivalent of a transcript with 275 single-spaced pages.

Trump had posted about Greenfield as recently as Wednesday, referring to the judge's “very disturbed and angry law clerk."

Appeals court reinstates gag order that barred Trump from maligning court staff in NY fraud trial

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