(HorizonPost.com) – Donald Trump was fined an additional $10,000 on Wednesday for once again violating the limited gag order imposed by the judge in his civil fraud case in New York, CBS News reported.
Trump spoke to reporters during the mid-morning break in the trial on Wednesday and referred to “a person who is very partisan” sitting beside Judge Arthur Engoron, the judge presiding over the case.
Judge Engoron’s clerk, Allison Greenfield, whose attack by Trump on social media prompted the limited gag order, usually sits beside the judge.
Immediately after Trump’s remark to reporters, Judge Engoron expressed his dismay at the comment and said Trump may have violated the limited gag order.
When the court broke for lunch, reporters were led out of the room while Trump, his attorneys, and prosecuting attorneys remained for almost an hour. When court resumed after lunch, Trump was called to the stand to answer questions from the judge under oath.
The former president admitted making the statement but claimed that his remark was directed at Judge Engoron and Michael Cohen, Trump’s former “fixer” who was testifying on Wednesday.
Engoron asked Trump to clarify that he wasn’t referring to Allison Greenfield and Trump said, “Yes, I’m sure.”
After Trump left the stand, the judge fined him $10,000, prompting a protest from Trump’s attorneys.
Attorney Alina Habba criticized Allison Greenfield’s behavior in the case and said she didn’t “like being yelled at by law clerks who did not earn the robe.” Habba argued that the influence Greenfield has on the bench “is completely inappropriate and it should stop.”
The judge defended how he uses his law clerks and said while he doesn’t know if other judges have their clerks sit on the bench, that is how he does things.
This was the second time in less than a week that Trump was fined for violating the gag order. Last Friday, the judge fined him $5,000 after his initial Truth Social post about Greenfield turned up in his campaign material after the gag order was imposed. Engoron warned the former president that if he did it again, “It’ll be worse.”
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