Justice Arthur Engoron Slaps Donald Trump With a 'Second' Gag Order in Civil Fraud Case Trial

Former President Donald Trump has been quite preoccupied with his campaign for the upcoming 2024 Presidential Elections. Recently, he officially declared his candidacy for the New Hampshire Presidential Primary at the State House in Concord. However, he’s also amid an intense legal battle for his relation with the Civil Fraud Case in New York. So far, Michael Cohen’s testimony brought to light numerous revelations. But before proceeding further, Justice Arthur Engoron had strictly placed Trump under a gag order. Unfortunately, the order was violated by the former President which in turn has resulted in a consequence as per CNN.

History repeated itself once more after Trump violated a gag order for the second time in the aforementioned trial. The gag order strongly insinuates that the former President is strictly forbidden to issue denigrating statements concerning staff present at court. However, this wasn’t exactly followed by Trump.

The case was seemingly moving in a great direction for Trump and his legal team which was being led by Attorney General Letitia James. Then, Trump’s business ethics were in question and James managed to secure a  break in the case for her client. During a brief recess, the President was out to greet the press and provide information and answers concerning the case. 

Although Trump’s interactions with the press usually appear to be professional exchanges, while not completely implausible, these altercations sometimes go awry. While talking to a few reporters, he claimed that Judge Engoron was a “very partisan judge with a ‘partisan’ person sitting alongside him.”

The aforementioned person Trump referred to is allegedly the Clerk sitting next to Judge Engoron. After taking into consideration the gravity of Trump’s actions the judge claimed that his comments directed towards him and the member of the court were in direct violation of the gag order and called the ordeal “blatant”. 

But before passing his judgment, Judge Engoror called Trump to briefly take the stand to explain his actions. Trump claimed that it was a misunderstanding and he was referring to his former ‘fixer’ Michael Cohen instead of the clerk. Unfortunately, Trump’s clarification didn’t seem to have convinced the judge as he not only rejected but also issued a strict warning against such actions in the future. In addition, he was ordered to pay a fine of $10,000 as a penalty for violating the gag order. 

Earlier in the case, Justice Engoron had placed Trump in a similar predicament on the 3rd of October, this too was not honored by Trump. He reportedly shared a snap of a top-notch Clerk serving Judge Engoron and Democrat Chuck Schumer - a US Senate Majority Leader, on Truth Social with allegedly belittling remarks. Although back then Trump got off with a warning, this time things went differently as mentioned earlier. Trump or his representatives are yet to comment on the matter.