Judge in Donald Trump's fraud trial expands his gag order, revealing that the court's been 'inundated' with threats
- The judge overseeing Trump's fraud trial imposed a partial gag order on Trump's lawyers.
- Judge Arthur Engoron said they made "on the record, repeated, inappropriate remarks" about his law clerk.
The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's fraud trial in New York expanded an existing gag order to bar Trump's lawyers from commenting on confidential communications between the judge and his staff.
Judge Arthur Engoron's wider gag order came after Trump's lawyers made what the judge characterized as "on the record, repeated, inappropriate remarks" about his law clerk.
They "falsely [accused] her of bias against them and of improperly influencing the ongoing bench trial," Engoron wrote. "These arguments have no basis."
"The threat of, and actual, violence resulting from heated political rhetoric is well documented," Engoron wrote. "Since the commencement of this bench trial, my chambers have been inundated with hundreds of harassing and threatening phone calls, voicemails, emails, letters, and packages."
"The First Amendment right of defendants and their attorneys to comment on my staff is far and away outweighed by the need to protect them from threats and physical harm," he continued.
Moving forward, Trump defense lawyers Christopher Kise, Alina Habba, and Clifford Robert are barred "from making any public statements, in or out of court, that refer to any confidential communications, in any form, between my staff and me."
Engoron warned that violating the gag order would "result in serious sanctions."
The expansion of the order comes one day after Engoron threatened to do just that after Trump attorney Christopher Kise took a verbal swipe at the court's female law clerk during Eric Trump's testimony.
"Sometimes I think there may be a bit of misogyny," the judge told Kise on Thursday. "If you keep referring to my principal law clerk, I will consider expanding the gag order to include you and your attorneys." Kise defended himself against the suggestion of misogyny, saying: "I'm not a misogynist, I have a 17-year-old daughter."On Friday morning, Kise once again raised Engoron's ire after he asked the judge if he could make objections in the court record about the law clerk, Allison Greenfield, an attorney who sits next to the judge on the bench and frequently confers with him via notes."Unless there's any real reason, you cannot refer to any members of my staff," Engoron said Friday.Trump's attorneys have suggested Greenfield has given the "perception of bias" with her notes, which the lawyers cannot see.In the Friday order, Engoron said Trump's attorneys' arguments about Greenfield "have no basis," adding it is the role of the law clerk to confidentially advise the judge throughout proceedings. "Plainly, defendants are not entitled to the confidential communications amongst me and my court staff," the judge wrote. Engoron has already fined Trump twice for similarly attacking Greenfield.The previous gag order already barred Trump and his co-defendants from spoken or online statements attacking Engoron's law staff. Eric Trump continued his testimony for about an hour on Friday, answering questions about his signatures on documents related to valuations of Trump Organization properties.The New York Attorney General's office is alleging the company gave false valuations to such properties, leading banks to give favorable terms on loans and pay lower taxes that they shouldn't have.