Judge temporarily lifts narrow gag order on Trump in 2020 election interference case
PBS NewsHour
Trump Fined for Second Gag Order Violation in Civil Fraud Case
story
Image copyright: Gage Skidmore/Flickr [via Wikimedia Commons]
The Facts
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron called Donald Trump to the stand for an unscheduled hearing and fined the former president $10K on Wednesday for violating a gag order after he was found to have maligned the judge's top law clerk, Allison Greenfield.
This comes as Trump accused Engoron and the person "sitting alongside him" of partisanship while speaking in a courthouse hallway during a break on the second day of testimony from his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who flipped on the former president in the New York civil fraud trial.
The Spin
Anti-Trump narrative
While this fine holds little financial consequences for someone as rich as Trump, it certainly marks a new reality for a former president who has no respect for the rule of law. As the leading Republican candidate uses his free speech rights to capitalize politically on efforts to hold him accountable and acts in contempt of court, the legal system will be tested in unprecedented ways to rein in such a reckless defendant.
Pro-Trump narrative
This nonsensical fine only confirms that Engoron is indeed a partisan judge who is colluding with far-left New York Attorney General Letitia James in a fraud case that has neither a victim nor a single credible witness. Trump was clearly referring to Michael Cohen, a convicted felon who went to jail for lying, but somehow, the judge stubbornly claims it was to his principal law clerk.
