The Manhattan judge overseeing Donald Trump’s $250 million civil fraud trial fined the former president $5,000 on Friday for failing to remove a social media post attacking the judge’s clerk from his campaign website, and threatened to jail him for future violations of a “gag” order.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron slapped the former commander in chief with the lenient sentence after accepting the Trump camp’s claim that a screenshot of the post, in which Trump disparaged the top aide Engoron lawyer Allison Greenfield was left on Trump’s website “inadvertently.” ” for 17 days after a court order prohibited Trump from publicly criticizing Engoron staff.
But the judge, who already found Trump liable for fraud for making “indisputably” false claims to secure favorable terms with banks, promised that such excuses will not be accepted if Trump again violates the gag order.
“Make no mistake: future violations, whether intentional or not, will subject the violator to much harsher penalties,” Engoron wrote Friday.
Future consequences could include “more severe financial sanctions, charging Donald Trump with contempt of court and possibly imprisoning him,” the judge added.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron said Trump was in “flagrant violation” of the gag order. Meir Chaimowitz/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Trump was ordered to pay the $5,000 within 10 days to the New York Lawyers’ Client Protection Fund, a public trust that reimburses legal clients for financial losses caused by “dishonest” legal conduct.
Engoron’s ruling came hours after the furious judge grilled Trump’s lawyers before the trial resumed Friday morning about why the 2024 GOP front-runner had not deleted the social media post. , which baselessly accused Greenfield of being “Schumer’s girlfriend.”
The post included a photo of Greenfield and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) at a campaign event.
A Schumer spokeswoman called Trump’s post “ridiculous, absurd and false” and said the senator does not know Greenfield.
Trump attorney Chris Kise claimed the social media screenshot had been “automatically” posted to the Trump campaign website and said it was an oversight that the post remained up until last night.
The judge already found Trump liable for “persistent fraud” by inflating the values of his properties in his financial filings. ZUMAPRESS.com
Later that day, Kise attempted to downplay the impact of the post, claiming that only 3,701 of the 114 million visitors to Trump’s website since the time of the October 3 gag order had viewed the page containing the screenshot before it was deleted.
Engoron seemed unmoved by most of Kise’s explanations during the hearing, and warned later in his ruling about the real-world dangers of Trump publishing misinformation.
“In this current overheated political climate, inflammatory lies can, and in some cases already have, led to serious physical harm and worse,” Engoron wrote.
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The Friday morning drama was just the latest twist in what has become a chaotic scene in the Lower Manhattan courtroom where Trump, his company and his two oldest children face accusations that they inflated the value of Trump’s real estate empire. to obtain favorable conditions from banks.
Trump, 77, is not required to be present at the civil trial and was not present Friday.
He is expected to return Tuesday to hear testimony from his former “fixer” and personal attorney Cohen, who told The Post on Friday that the judge could have been much harsher on his former boss.
“I thought he was very fair and judicious in imposing a fine for violating a limited gag order that no one thought was possible to violate,” Cohen said of the judge.
On Wednesday, a New York state court employee was escorted from the courtroom and arrested after she tried to approach the former commander in chief, claiming she wanted to help him.
Tensions have also risen between Trump’s lawyers and lawyers for New York Attorney General Letitia James, including on Thursday, when the attorney general’s office accused Trump’s lawyer Kise of not treating them with respect.
“Excuse me, be more respectful,” the attorney general’s lawyer Colleen Faherty was heard saying during a private meeting in court.
Lawyers for New York Attorney General Letitia James have accused Trump’s lawyers of not treating them with respect.AP
“No,” Kise replied.
Engoron already found Trump liable for fraud, the main claim in James’ sprawling lawsuit, and said the former president made “indisputably” false statements in his financial filings.
Trump’s team is appealing Engoron’s September ruling finding him liable for fraud and is taking steps to dissolve his New York “business certificates,” which could hamper his former company’s ability to operate in the Empire State.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn