Trump Gagged Harder

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(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Two weeks ago, Donald Trump posted a screenshot of New York Supreme Court Justice Engoron’s law clerk and falsely described her as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s “girlfriend.”

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“Consider this statement a gag order forbidding all parties from posting, emailing, or speaking publicly about any members of my staff,” Justice Engoron declared furiously when he returned to the bench after an ex parte conference in which attorneys for the defendant assured him that the offending post had been removed.

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Attacking the judge’s clerk was such a gross breach that Trump’s lawyers didn’t even try defend it. In marked contrast to their constant howling about the unfairness of the court and their client’s sacred First Amendment rights, neither Trump nor his counsel ever mentioned it again.

But that was not the end of the matter, because Trump’s Truth social arglebargles are automatically posted to his campaign website, DonaldJTrump.com. And yesterday, inveterate weirdo watcher Ron Filipkowski over at Meidas Touch noticed that the website still had the offending post up.

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This morning a volcanically angry Justice Engoron threatened to jail Trump for contempt of court.

Judge Engoron just asked Trump's lawyers why he shouldn't send him to jail or impose other sanctions in light of an incendiary post he ordered him to delete two weeks ago that remained online last night.
Chris Kise said it was an oversight. Judge will rule later. Story TK.

— Molly Crane-Newman (@molcranenewman) October 20, 2023

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Trump’s lawyer Chris Kise apologized and blamed an unwieldy campaign apparatus for the screw up, even joking that “this is one of the reasons, frankly, I don’t have social media.”

The judge was not amused, and he let Trump twist in the wind for the rest of the day — or, the breeze, as it were, since the defendant was playing golf in Florida rather than attending his civil fraud trial in New York. After the day’s business, he issued a brief order excoriating Trump for his careless misrepresentation to the court.

“A defendant may not evade liability for violating a court order by asserting that the violation was a result of the actions of one or more of the defendant’s employees or agents,” he wrote. “In the current overheated climate, incendiary untruths can, and in some cases already have, led to serious physical harm, and worse.”

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“Issuing yet another warning is no longer appropriate,” he went on, before issuing what amounts to less than a slap on the wrist in the form of a “nominal fine” of $5,000 to the New York Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection.

“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 imprisoning him pursuant to New York Judiciary Law § 753,” the judge … warned.

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Trump and his lawyers have remained silent on the order thus far, even as they requested to stay the limited gag order imposed by Judge Chutkan in DC pending their appeal. Meanwhile on Truth Social, Trump re-posted this image of himself in court flanked by a very stern white Jesus.

As the New York Post pointed out, this picture was drawn by an Australian man named Peter Gerard Scully, who is currently serving life plus 129 years for rape, human trafficking, and the sexual abusing children as young as 18 months.

This week was the weirdest year ever.

Liz Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics and appears on the Opening Arguments podcast.

Topics

Arthur Engoron, Chris Kise, Crime, Donald Trump, Government