An order to take down a post criticising a court clerk was ignored by the former US president, a New York judge ruled.
In his civil fraud trial, former US President Donald Trump violated a gag order, for which he was fined $5,000. A New York court warned him that if he did it again, he may face jail time.
Justice Arthur Engoron stated in a two-page letter made public on Friday that he had ordered Trump earlier this month to delete a “untrue [and] disparaging” remark about his clerk while prohibiting any parties in the trial from publicly criticising any of his friends.
He was making reference to a now-deleted post by Trump that featured a picture of the judge’s top clerk standing with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, calling the senator the senator’s “girlfriend.” Schumer has long been a critic of the 45th president.
Engoron noted that although Trump took down the post from social media, it remained on his campaign’s website for 17 days. Trump’s defence claimed the order’s infringement was unintentional.
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The judge warned the former president that “future violations, whether intentional or unintentional,” could result in “far more severe sanctions,” such as steeper financial fines, declaring Trump in contempt of court, and even possibly imprisoning him. Despite acknowledging that this may be the case, the judge nonetheless fined Trump $5,000.
Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, launched a civil action against the former president, who is the front-runner for the Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
In order to obtain loans with better terms, the prosecution claims that Trump committed fraud by exaggerating the value of his assets by billions of dollars. In addition to continuing to insist on his innocence, he has charged James with engaging in a witch hunt and called her earlier this month a “political animal.” Additionally, Trump and his attorneys have asserted that no one was harmed and that all of the loans in question were fully returned.
Trump is not the only one who must abide by Engoron’s gag order. A similar punishment was imposed on him earlier this week in a felony election tampering case where he is accused of planning to rig the 2020 election in order to defeat US President Joe Biden. Trump has entered a not-guilty plea.
