Former President Donald Trump was fined $10,000 on Wednesday, October 25, 2023, for violating a gag order in his civil fraud trial in New York. The gag order, imposed by Judge Arthur Engoron, prohibited Trump from speaking publicly about the court staff, especially the judge’s law clerks.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron chastised Trump, 77, after the ex-president got off the stand and walked back to the defense table. “Don’t do it again, or it will be worse,” Engoron warned.
Trump denied he was speaking about Engoron’s law clerk when he griped to reporters earlier in the day that “a person who is very partisan” was sitting “alongside” the judge – who is deciding the $250 million fraud case that threatens The Donald’s New York real estate empire.
The former president allegedly violated the gag order by making disparaging remarks about one of the clerks, who he claimed was very partisan and biased against him. Trump briefly testified under oath on Wednesday, but the judge did not allow him to continue after finding him “not credible”.
This was the second time Trump was fined for violating the gag order; he was previously fined $5,000 for leaving a post about the clerk on his campaign website. The civil fraud trial is brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who accuses Trump and his family of inflating their net worth to obtain favorable loans. The trial is still ongoing and could have significant consequences for Trump’s personal fortune and real estate empire.