Judge fines Trump $10,000 for violating gag order

A New York judge fined Donald Trump $10,000 (£8,250) over remarks he had made to the press earlier on Wednesday.

Mr Trump had accused the judge and the person “sitting alongside him” of being “very partisan”.

Judge Arthur Engoron found those comments violated a gag order against speaking about court staff during his civil trial for business fraud.

In an unscheduled hearing, Judge Engoran called the former president to the stand.

The judge asked Mr Trump to explain who he was referring to when he told the press that Mr Engoron was a “very partisan judge, with a person who is very partisan sitting alongside him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is.”

“You and Cohen,” Mr Trump replied, referring to his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who was testifying against him that day

“Are you sure you didn’t mean the person” sitting to his side, Judge Engoron asked, meaning his clerk.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Mr Trump said.

“As the trier of fact, I find the witness is not credible,” Judge Engonon said, before allowing Mr Trump to step down.

The tense exchange took place in the midst of a high-stakes civil trial that could see Mr Trump lose some of his most iconic real-estate assets, and his ability to lead the organisation that he founded in the state of New York. Judge Engoron had previously ruled the Trump Organization committed fraud, and the current trial is focused on additional charges.

The former president was already under a gag order from Mr Engoron because he had posted disparaging comments about the same clerk in early October. When he had discovered the comments were still up on Mr Trump’s campaign website several days later, Mr Engoron had issued a $5,000 fine and a warning to Mr Trump.

The judge saw Mr Trump’s comments today as a further attack on this clerk.

Mr Trump’s lawyers, Chris Kise and Alina Habba, attempted to dissuade the bench, arguing Mr Trump was actually referring to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who was on the witness stand that day.

Ms Habba at one point implied the judge was being unfair to their side.

The “influence happening from the bench is completely inappropriate,” she said.

While Judge Engoron briefly reconsidered his decision, Mr Trump’s lawyers were ultimately unsuccessful and the fine was issued, with the judge warning the next violation would incur a more serious punishment.

“Don’t do it again or it will be worse,” he said.

While Mr Trump has been subdued in his court appearances, letting his lawyers do most of the arguing, he has relentlessly attacked the judges and other players in his various criminal and civil trials this year in social media and public remarks.

He has called Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is prosecuting him for his attempts to overturn the election results in the state of Georgia, a “rabid partisan” and ran an ad that claimed she had a relationship with a gang member she was prosecuting.

In the federal election interference case, Trump has called the presiding judge, Tanya Chutkan, a “biased, Trump Hating Judge” on social media. Judge Chutkin issued a gag order of her own on 16 October forbidding Mr Trump from disparaging court staff, witnesses, and prosecutors involved in that case. The American Civil Liberties Union has called her gag order “unconstitutional”.

Trump has also called Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is pursuing yet another case against him, a “Racist in Reverse”.

The fines issued by Mr Engoron are the most significant rebuke to Mr Trump’s conduct yet. But it remains to be seen whether Mr Trump, who has used these court appearances to fundraise and bolster support among his voting base, will change his strategy.