While all that wild business with the closet case takeover of the GOP conference in the House yesterday, Judge Arthur Engoron finally gagged Trump, although, unfortunately, just partially. Trump has been squealing like a stuck pig all during the NY fraud trial and he finally stepped way out of bounds around noon. He attacked the judge’s clerk, Allison Greenfield, by name, put up a photo of her with Chuck Schumer and all but called on his crazed MAGAt followers to murder her.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron: “Personal attacks on members on my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate, and I will not tolerate them under any circumstances.” The gag order is just meant to keep Trump from posting about his staff. Chastened, Trump took down the post.
Jonah Bromwich reported that “Engoron said that his statement should be considered a gag order forbidding any posts, emails or public remarks about members of his staff. He added that serious sanctions would follow were he to be disobeyed, but did not elaborate… He noted that while Trump had taken down the Truth Social post, [Trump’s] campaign had sent out a copy of the post in a disparaging email to millions of people.”
Trump has spent much of the first two days of the trial attacking Justice Engoron, Greenfield and Letitia James, the New York attorney general. James filed the lawsuit that led to the trial that began Monday. She accused Trump of “staggering fraud” in the way he inflated the values of his assets, as a way to gain favorable treatment from banks and insurance companies…
[Trump’s] social media posts have become an issue in several cases against him. Federal prosecutors who have accused Trump of seeking to overturn the 2020 election have asked a judge for a gag order, citing his threatening statements. In a criminal case against Trump in Manhattan, which stems from a 2016 hush money payment to a porn star, the judge has restricted [Trump’s] ability to post about some evidence.
In a pretrial ruling, Justice Engoron found that [Trump] was liable for fraud and dissolved the companies he uses to run his New York properties.
What remains to be determined at trial is whether [Trump] and his fellow defendants are liable for other illegal acts and whether there will be any further punishment. James has asked Justice Engoron to fine the defendants $250 million.
Can't Trump be prosecuted under Son of Sam laws for fundraising based on his trials? It's not like his fundraising emails are great works of literature. He's just making a blatant cash grab based on the fame from his crimes.
It is amazing and terrific that this judge immediately issued a gag order. He has stood up to TFG like no other judge has. What is Chutken waiting for? It would be best to put TFG in isolation at MAL, with a large gag order, before the trials. Jail, of course, would be far better but no judge seems to have the stomach for it. The whole concept of equality before the law is a joke, as anyone else would already be in jail for these provocations.