A judge is considering the possibility of imprisoning former President Donald Trump for alleged breaches of the “gag order” issued in the New York Democrats’ case.
Judge Arthur Engoron, in a hearing on Friday, contended that Trump had contravened a gag order implemented at the commencement of the civil fraud trial initiated by Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James.
In his opening statements, Engoron sharply criticized Trump’s legal team. The judge accused Trump of neglecting to remove a social media post that ridiculed the clerk’s relationship with Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
It was this post that led Engoron to impose the gag order on the trial’s second day.
“In the current overheated climate, incendiary comments can, and in some cases already have, led to serious physical harm and worse,” Engoron said to Trump’s attorneys, according to NBC News.
“I will now allow the defendants to explain why this blatant violation of the gag order would not result in serious sanctions, including financial sanctions and/or possibly imprisoning him.”
In response, Trump’s attorney, Christopher Kise, contended that the failure to remove Trump’s post from the campaign website was an oversight.
Kise argued that the campaign team, rather than the former president himself, was responsible for the posts. He emphasized that Trump had indeed removed the post from his Truth Social account previously.
“There was no intention to evade or circumvent or ignore the order,” Kise said.
“I assure you that.
“I just know that this is a very large machine and this is one of the reasons, frankly, I don’t have social media.
“But that’s been taken down.
“And we don’t have any other… there were no subsequent postings.”
As previously reported, Engoron issued a gag order against Trump after the president publicly questioned the judge’s legal clerk, Allison Greenfield, and her reported ties to Chuck Schumer.
During the trial, Greenfield consistently showed support for Engoron by usually sitting alongside the judge in the courtroom.
“Why is Judge Engoron’s Principal Law Clerk, Allison R Greenfield, palling around with Chuck Schumer?” Trump posted on social media.
The post features a picture of Greenfield with Chuck Schumer and provides a link to her Instagram account.
The progressive judge emphasized that Trump was responsible for the website’s content, even if there was no apparent intent to bypass the order.
Engoron noted that he would consider the defense team’s response, but did not make further remarks regarding possible sanctions or a specific course of action.
