New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron, the judge recently praised by former President Donald J. Trump for allegedly throwing out what Trump called “eighty percent” of the case against him, has issued a gag order against Trump after the 45th President blasted Engoron’s law clerk in public comments to the press and on social media.
According to CNBC, Engoron told the Trump legal team on the second day of the ongoing fraud trial, “Consider this statement a gag order on all parties with respect to posting or publicly speaking about any member of my staff.”
Judge Engoron has issued a gag order in the Trump civil fraud trial after Trump posted about the judge's clerk.
Engoron: "Consider this statement a gag order forbidding all parties from posting emailing or speaking publicly about any of my staff."— erica orden (@eorden) October 3, 2023
Politico legal reporter Erica Orden reported that Engoron added,
“Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate and I will not tolerate them in any circumstances,” he continued “Failure to abide by this order will result in serious sanctions.”
The Judge took issue in particular with a post by Trump to Truth Social that was critical of Engoron’s principal law clerk Ashley Greenfield, sharing an image of her with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
He wrote in a now-deleted post, “Schumer’s girlfriend, Alison R. Greenfield, is running this case against me. How disgraceful! This case should be dismissed immediately,” according to Law and Crime.
Outside the courthouse, Trump called attention to the post, telling the gathered reporters that the connection between Schumer and Greenfield proved the trial to be a “witch hunt.”
“You saw what was just put out about Schumer and the principal clerk. That is disgraceful,” he told the press, adding that the trial is “rigged” and “fraudulent.”
BREAKING: Donald Trump says that the current court case against him, which accuses him of fraud, is "rigged".
He adds "you saw what was just put out about Schumer and the principal clerk", as he continues to claim the trial is a "witch-hunt".https://t.co/Yy9R6i13MV
📺 Sky 501 pic.twitter.com/vco445qW4b
— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 3, 2023
CNBC reported that the Trump campaign later sent out an email criticizing Engoron at length as a “Far-Left Democrat,” sharing a litany of news outlets reporting on the Judge’s extensive Democrat connections and political bias. Trump added that New York Attorney General Letitia James whom he has sharply criticized for her blatantly political prosecution of his family “should probably be dismissed also.”
In a Tuesday morning post to Truth Social, he wrote,
“Now that it has been agreed in Court that Mar-a-Lago is WORTH 50 to 100 times the Value the Racist & Incompetent Attorney General of New York State, Letitia “Peekaboo” James, ascribed to it (18 Million Dollars), & likewise other assets that were valued crazily low by this “Monster” that has allowed Violent Crime in New York to reach EPIDEMIC levels, and dangerous illegal migrants to roam free all over our State, we hope the Judge will TERMINATE his first ruling of fraud in that he was given false and ridiculous information by the Trump Deranged Lunatic, A.G. James. In actuality, I am WORTH FAR MORE than the numbers put down on the Financial Statements, not less. In addition, there is a far reaching and professionally drawn Disclaimer Clause boldly stated on the FIRST PAGE OF THE DOCUMENT. This entire case should be thrown out and dismissed. The A.G. should be reprimanded and sanctioned for bringing this case with its FAKE LOW VALUES, in order to make me look bad. Election Interference!”
Addressing Engoron directly, he added in a subsequent post, “Judge Engoron has been given false and grossly misleading information about my Net Worth by a lying and incompetent Attorney General, such as Mar-a-Lago being worth $18,000,000 when in fact the number would be much closer to 1.5 Billion Dollars, like other properties, including two that were recently sold for numbers many times those that were listed in the Financial Statements. The N.Y.S. Attorney General, therefore, committed FRAUD for Political and Election Interference reasons. This case should therefore be dismissed!”
As previously reported by Trending Politics, Trump told reporters Monday, “The violent crime that’s being committed in our city and our state is disgraceful, and we’re going to be here for months. With a judge that already made up his mind, it’s ridiculous. He’s a Democrat judge, he’s an operative, and it’s ridiculous.”
As of this writing, Sen. Schumer has made no public comment regarding his relationship, if any, with Allison Greenfield.