Trump lawyers attack judge’s clerk and create ‘side issue’ as son testifies

Donald J. Trump’s legal team repeatedly attacked a law clerk at the former president’s civil fraud trial on Friday, overshadowing Eric Trump’s second day on the witness stand and prompting the judge to ban the lawyers from making public statements. about his private communications with his staff.

The judge, Arthur F. Engoron, works closely with the clerk, Allison Greenfield, and the two often speak and pass notes on the bench. Ms. Greenfield previously worked as a trial attorney in the New York City legal department, and the judge appears to rely on her expertise when considering rules of evidence and other matters.

But the former president has objected to her involvement in the monthlong trial — Ms. Greenfield is a Democrat and Mr. Trump believes she is biased against him — and his lawyers have regularly complained about her. On Friday, one of Trump’s lawyers, Christopher M. Kise, followed up on those objections, saying communications between the judge and the clerk had created a “perception of bias.”

After the court hearing ended that day, Judge Engoron issued a written order prohibiting the attorneys from making any public statements, in or out of court, about his private communications with Ms. Greenfield, including their conversations and notes. He said the lawyers’ arguments were without merit, that their accusations of bias were false and that failure to comply with the order would result in “severe sanctions.”

He again said he was concerned about the danger to his staff, noting that his chambers had been “inundated with hundreds of harassing and threatening phone calls, voicemails, emails, letters and parcels” since the trial began.

A lawyer from the New York attorney general’s office, which brought the case against Mr. Trump and his two adult sons, called the entire issue a “side issue” after Eric Trump concluded his testimony.

The lawyer, Kevin Wallace, said the objections to Ms. Greenfield appeared designed to interrupt the attorney general’s case. To illustrate his point, Mr. Wallace pointed out that Eric Trump left the witness stand without fanfare on Friday after several hours of testifying about the Trump Organization’s annual financial statements, and many in the courtroom were unaware he even had a conclusion drawn.

The day before, he and his older brother, Donald Trump Jr., blamed outside auditors for errors in companies’ financial statements. The documents are at the heart of the civil case brought by Attorney General Letitia James, who accuses the brothers, their father and their company, the Trump Organization, of using the statements to defraud banks and insurers.

The brothers were the first members of the Trump family to testify in the case. Donald J. Trump is expected to take the stand on Monday and his daughter Ivanka Trump, who was a key part of the company before joining her father in the White House, will testify on Wednesday.

Eric Trump’s time in the booth began Thursday morning and lasted Friday. He was cautious and often appeared irritable as he deflected questions from another attorney for the attorney general, Andrew Amer.

At one point, when asked how the family’s Florida properties were valued, Eric Trump complained that he was not involved in the granular details of the financial values ​​at the Trump Organization — a response that has characterized his testimony.

“This is not what an executive at my level within the company does,” he said.

But Mr. Amer continued to question Mr. Trump about the Trump Organization’s annual financial statements — which Judge Engoron found before the trial were filled with fraudulent misrepresentations — and whether he intended them to be accurate. Mr. Trump said yes.

On Thursday, Mr. Amer had called Mr. Trump a “good” witness who helped the attorney general’s case. But any comments after Friday’s testimony would have been lost in the fuss that Mr. Kise and the former president’s other lawyers made about Ms. Greenfield.

Mr. Kise accused her of making improper political contributions to Democrats, based on a story by the right-wing newspaper Breitbart. By repeatedly raising the issue and entering it into the record, Mr. Kise said he was laying the groundwork for an appeal or request for a mistrial.

Mr. Wallace later responded that if Mr. Trump’s lawyers were going to ask for a mistrial, they should do so.

Judge Engoron said he had an absolute right to consult with Ms Greenfield and all his staff. “I’ve cut this case right in half,” he said. He added that he did not want any further comments about his staff and the way he communicates with them, and followed up on his order later in the day.

Judge Engoron had already imposed a gag order on the former president, preventing him from commenting on court staff. Donald J. Trump violated that order twice by attacking Ms. Greenfield, for which he was fined $15,000.