The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s $250m fraud trial moved to gag Trump’s lawyers from talking about “confidential communications” between the judge and his staff on Friday.
Judge Arthur Engoron has already fined Trump $15,000 for attacking his clerk on social media and threatened to jail the former president if the attacks continue.
“Failure to abide by this directive shall result in serious sanctions,” warned Engoron.
Engoron revealed that his chambers had been bombarded with threats since the trial began and warned that he would not allow the attacks on his staff to continue.
“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.”
Trump’s lawyers clashed with Engoron on Thursday and Friday over the judge’s communications with his law clerk, whom Trump had previously smeared on his Truth Social social media site. Those smears led to Trump being fined $15,000. Engoron has threatened to jail Trump if the attacks continue.
Trump’s lawyer Christopher Kise pressed Engoron to lift that gag order on Friday and threatened to ask for a mistrial because, he alleged, Engoron’s chief clerk had engaged in political activity with Democratic officials. “We all need to take this very seriously because the entire world is watching,” he said.
Engoron questioned the accuracy of those allegations. “It’s a shame we’ve descended to this level,” he said.
“These arguments have no basis,” Engoron wrote on Friday. “Defendants’ First Amendment arguments in opposition to the imposition are wholly unpersuasive. This gag order is as narrowly tailored as possible to accomplish its purpose, which is to protect the safety of my staff and promote the orderly progression of this trial.”
The clerk, Allison Greenfield, is a Democrat who previously worked as a trial attorney in New York City’s law department. Greenfield often passes notes to Engoron, and Trump’s legal team have accused her of swaying the judge’s opinion.
The usually jovial Engoron snapped at Kise on Thursday, accusing him of “misogyny” in his “referring to my female principal law clerk” and stating that he had an “absolute unfettered right to get advice” from his principal law clerk.
“I’m not a misogynist,” Kise replied, adding: “I’m happily married. I have a 17-year-old daughter.”
