CNN
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Judge Arthur Engoron reprimands donald trump It comes after the former president attacked the clerk in a social media post on Tuesday and barred those involved from commenting on the employee in the future.
“This morning, one of the defendants posted a derogatory post on his social media account that was false and personally identifying about my staff. It was also emailed to millions of recipients,” the judge said in court.
“Personal attacks against court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate and unacceptable,” the judge said.
Trump looked directly at the judge as he issued the order.
The judge then said all parties must not speak publicly about members of the court’s staff.
“Consider this statement as an order prohibiting all parties from posting, emailing, or speaking publicly about any member of my staff,” Engoron said. “Failure to comply will result in significant sanctions.”
President Trump attacked Engoron’s clerk in a Truth social post Tuesday, claiming she was the “girlfriend” of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and posting a photo of the two together. showed.
“What a shame!” Trump wrote. “This case should be dismissed immediately.”
It wasn’t immediately clear if there was any connection between the Engoron clerk and Schumer beyond the photo. CNN has reached out to Schumer’s office for comment.
During the lunch break before the judge’s admonition, there was unusual activity outside the courtroom, with Trump entering and exiting during the break. There was also a short delay before the court convened for the afternoon.
For the past two days, President Trump has voluntarily attended a New York civil trial conducted by the New York State Attorney General. letitia james filed a $250 million lawsuit accusing President Trump and his co-defendants of repeatedly fraudulently inflating their assets to obtain better terms on commercial real estate loans and insurance policies.
00:54 – Source: CNN
Journalist reveals President Trump’s behavior in court
New York’s attorney general is seeking to ban Trump from doing business in the state. A judge ruled last week that Trump and his co-defendants were responsible for “relentless and repeated” fraud, one of seven claims the attorney general is seeking to prove.
On Monday, Trump also criticized the clerk in comments outside court, but did not mention her by name.
“And this rogue judge hates Trump. The only people who hate Trump more are his colleagues,” Trump said. “The person who works with him. Every time we ask a question, she screams in his ear almost every time. It’s a disgrace. It’s a disgrace.”
The photo of Schumer and the store employee was posted last week by an anonymous account on X (formerly Twitter), which had fewer than 200 followers as of Tuesday.
The post, which Trump posted as an image on his Truth Social post, did not claim the store clerk was Schumer’s girlfriend, only that the two were “hanging out.” . Trump added the baseless “girlfriend” claim.
Engoron reminded Trump’s lawyers early Tuesday that the trial itself is not the place to challenge what the judges have already ruled.
“That’s why we’re appealing,” Engoron said.
Engoron on Monday clarified his comments that his testimony on the 2011 financial statements was a “waste of time.” He told Kevin Wallace, a lawyer with the attorney general’s office, to cut to the chase after three hours of testimony from Trump’s former accountant.
“Mr. Wallace promised to connect the dots,” Engoron said.
An appeals court has ruled that the statute of limitations applies in 2014, and Trump’s lawyers are seeking to dismiss allegations about transactions that took place before then.
However, Engoron did not change last week’s ruling and said his comments in court Monday afternoon only addressed evidence and testimony that would be admissible at trial.
The judge noted that the attorney general is suing Trump not for the underlying transactions but for the financial statements that referenced them, which occurred after 2014 and are included in James’ claims. .
“Every time a business uses false financial statements, the statute of limitations starts running again,” Engoron said. “We understand that the defendant strongly disagrees with this and will appeal on those grounds.”
Trump, appearing in court on Monday, falsely claimed that the judges agreed that 80% of the attorney general’s lawsuits were thrown out by statute of limitations.
Last week, Engoron ruled that Trump and co-defendants were responsible for the fraud. This is one of several allegations in the attorney general’s civil lawsuit against Trump, which could result in severe penalties for his businesses.
President Trump said just outside the courtroom during a break in proceedings that he intended to testify in the civil trial.
“Yes, I will. At the appropriate time I will testify,” he replied.
Trump is scheduled to testify later in the trial and is on the list of witnesses for the state and his own defense team. Trump’s lawyers have previously said the former president is eager to testify in his own defense.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
