The lawyers representing former President Donald Trump in his civil fraud case have been forbidden from speaking to the media or making negative comments about court personnel in the latest gag order from the judge in the case.
Judge Arthur Engoron noted that the lawyers’ recent remarks have been inappropriate and caused multiple threats towards the court employees.
Trump’s lawyers accused his chief law clerk of bias and unethical conduct during the ongoing bench trial.
Engoron strongly denied the accusations.
“The threat of, and actual, violence resulting from heated political rhetoric is well-documented. Since the commencement of this bench trial, my chambers have been inundated with hundreds of harassing and threatening phone calls, voicemails, emails, letters, and packages,” the judge said while issuing the gag order.
The ruling follows a series of confrontational interactions in the courtroom between Engoron, who is presiding over the $250 million civil fraud case against the Trump family and their business, and Trump’s attorney Christopher Kise.
Kise expressed concern several times about the judge’s conversations with his clerk, who provides him with written messages and occasionally speaks to him during the hearing.
Trump suggested that the clerk was in a romantic relationship with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) despite Schumer being married. As a result, the judge imposed a gag order, which Trump violated twice. The ex-president was fined a total of $15,000.
Trump’s attacks on public officials have resulted in threats and harassment toward the court staff.
The former president was also subjected to a gag order in the federal election interference case, but an appeals court granted a temporary stay on Friday.
