President Donald Trump was fined $5,000 by New York State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron for violating his gag order in the Manhattan trial for business fraud, threatening him with more severe punishments, including imprisonment.
Engoron admitted that the violation was “inadvertent” after a report found that Trump had neglected to delete a social media post criticizing Engoron’s chief court clerk.
“Make no mistake: future violations, whether intentional or unintentional, will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions, which may include, but are not limited to, steeper financial penalties, holding Donald Trump in contempt of court, and possibly imprisonment,” Engoron warned Trump following the gag order violation.
Trump slammed the judge’s clerk over a photograph she took with Democrat Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
“How disgraceful! This case should be dismissed immediately!” he wrote on the post that referred to the clerk as “Schumer’s girlfriend,” The Blaze reported.
Engoron issued the gag order, saying the accusations against his clerk were “disparaging” and “untrue.”
While Trump took down the post on Truth Social, it was found on his campaign website until Thursday when the court demanded he take it down.
“Despite this order, last night I learned the offending post was never removed from a website. This is a blatant violation of the gag order,” said Engoron.
“Incendiary untruths can and have led to serious physical harm.”
An attorney for Trump apologized for the error.
“Based on my understanding, this was truly inadvertent,” said Chris Kise.
“The Truth Social post was taken down when the court asked,” he added.
“Truth Social was taken down and Trump never made any more comments about court staff, but it appears no one took it down on the campaign website,” he continued.
“It is unfortunate and I apologize on behalf of my client.”
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Last month, Engoron ruled that Trump had committed fraud by overvaluing his net worth to obtain beneficial financial loans and arrangements.
The ruling related to only one of seven charges against Trump in the civil fraud trial initiated by a filing from New York Attorney General Letitia James.
In September, The Daily Fetched reported that Engoron boasted he could change verdicts if he believed the jury got “it wrong.”
In am unearthed video, Engoron is seen telling a college audience he has seen juries frequently reach conclusions he disagreed with.
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Judge overseeing Trump civil case in NYC:
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 3, 2023
“Juries get it wrong a lot…I have a tool – I can deal with that…I can say that there is no possible way that a reasonable jury would have reached that conclusion.” pic.twitter.com/iehPtIrcsF
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