Trump again barred from insulting court staff in civil fraud trial

An appeals court on Thursday reinstated a strict gag order against Donald J. Trump, banning him from attacking court staff in his civil fraud case in New York. The former president has violated the order twice and has had to pay a total of $15,000 in fines.

The order was first issued by Judge Arthur F. Engoron in early October, after Trump attacked the judge’s clerk on social media. Mr. Trump falsely referred to the clerk, Allison Greenfield, as “Schumer’s girlfriend” next to a photo of her and Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority leader, and said she was leading the case against Mr. Trump.

With their client banned from attacking Ms. Greenfield, Mr. Trump’s lawyers continued to question her prominence. They accused her of showing bias toward them when the judge consulted with his law clerk during the trial, which stems from a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Ultimately, Judge Engoron also imposed a gag order on the lawyers, preventing them from commenting on his conferences and written conversations with Ms. Greenfield.

The lawyers appealed and another judge, David Friedman, halted both silence orders, giving Trump a free hand to attack Ms. Greenfield, who like the judge is a Democrat. He did so and regularly insulted her on social media as biased. On Wednesday he called her ‘disturbed and angry’.

On Thursday, a panel of appeals court judges recommitted the orders in a written order. Shortly after that decision, Judge Engoron warned Mr. Trump’s lawyers in open court.

“I intend to enforce the silence orders rigorously and vigorously,” he said, asking the lawyers to tell Mr. Trump and their other clients that the order was back in effect.

In a statement, Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Christopher M. Kise, said the decision represented a “tragic day for the rule of law.”

“In a country where the First Amendment is sacrosanct, President Trump may not even comment on why he believes he cannot receive a fair trial,” the statement said.

Legal system lawyers had fought to reinstate the gag orders. In an affidavit, a court employee, Charles Hollon, who provides security for judges and their staff, said that after Trump’s first attack on Ms. Greenfield, she began receiving serious and credible threats and derogatory comments, many of which were anti-Semitic. .

She has received hundreds of harassing phone calls after her phone number was leaked, Mr. Hollon said, sometimes between 20 and 30 a day.

The trial began in October and is expected to end in the middle of next month, although Judge Engoron said on Thursday the outcome would not be decided until January at the earliest.

Ms. James accused Mr. Trump of inflating his assets to get favorable treatment from banks and insurers, and the judge ruled in a preliminary ruling that the former president’s financial statements were riddled with fraud. The lawsuit is largely about the consequences Trump will face as a result, including a potential fine of more than $250 million.

Mr Trump has already testified once but is expected to appear in court at the end of the defense’s case next month. The trial will then continue until January, when lawyers for both sides will file written submissions and then summarize their cases in oral arguments. Judge Engoron said he would make a decision a few weeks later.