Trump Civil Fraud Trial in New York Takes a Sharp Turn as Judge Places Gag Order on Lawyers
Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York took an unexpected twist on Friday when Judge Arthur Engoron placed a sternly worded gag order on the lawyers representing the former president. The move came after Trump’s legal team, consisting of Chris Kise, Alina Habba, and Clifford Robert, made repeated inappropriate remarks about Engoron’s Principal Law Clerk, falsely accusing her of bias against them.
According to Engoron’s order, his chambers had been flooded with harassing and threatening communications since the trial began. To protect his staff from further harm, the judge barred Trump’s attorneys from making statements about internal and confidential communications between him and his staff. The gag order expands an existing one that had only applied to Trump and not his lawyers.
The proceedings on Friday opened with Engoron voicing his concerns about Trump and his legal team’s repeated harassment of his law clerk, Allison Greenfield, over perceived bias. Defense attorney Chris Kise argued that if there is a perception of bias, it should be marked as a lawyer’s duty. Engoron, however, stated that he didn’t view the case as political and emphasized his right to receive assistance from his clerk.
Kise responded with a diatribe about the importance of preserving integrity and impartiality in the judicial system. He mentioned feeling like he was battling two adversaries and brought up an article calling for Greenfield’s disbarment over her political donations to Democrats, which he claimed was delivered to the court that morning. Engoron dismissed Kise’s claims, stating that he had no knowledge of the article and hadn’t seen it.
Tensions escalated when Engoron expressed his desire to move ahead with the trial. Eric Trump took the stand, resuming his testimony from the previous day. He claimed to have signed off on manipulated financial statements for his father based on assurances from top experts. However, later in his testimony, Eric provided conflicting answers regarding the nature of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Relations between Engoron and Trump’s legal team have grown increasingly strained. In the previous day’s proceedings, Engoron exploded at Kise, threatening to expand the gag order after Kise accused Greenfield of co-judging the trial. Engoron suggested that misogyny may be behind the repeated attacks on Greenfield, leading Kise to defend himself by mentioning that he is married and has a daughter.
Engoron has previously fined Trump $15,000 for violating the gag order and making derogatory comments about Greenfield, including referring to her as “[Chuck] Schumer’s girlfriend” on social media.
The trial continues as tensions run high and the gag order restricts lawyers’ comments about the judge’s staff while allowing them to express their opinions about Engoron himself.