1 of 6 | Former President Donald Trump enters the courtroom on Wednesday in New York City. The case brought last September by New York Attorney General Letitia James accuses Trump, his eldest sons and his family business of inflating Trump’s net worth by more than $2 billion by overvaluing his real estate portfolio. Photo by Louis Lanzano/UPI | License Photo
The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s civil trial fined the former president $10,000 Wednesday for his second violation of a gag order that bars him from talking about court staff.
The judge also ordered Trump to the witness stand. Advertisement
Judge Arthur Engoron asked Trump, “Did you say, ‘This judge is a very partisan judge with a person who is very partisan sitting alongside of him?'”
Trump said, “Yes,” but said he was referring to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, who was seated in the witness chair next to the judge
Earlier, Engoron said Trump’s comments suggested he was speaking about a law clerk. Trump’s attorney Chris Kise said Trump was referring to Cohen.
“It’s easy for the public or anyone to know who that is,” Engoron said, suggesting Trump was commenting about his law clerk. “I’m very protective of my staff, and I believe I should be. I don’t want anybody killed.”
Engoron imposed the gag order in early October barring Trump from comments about court staff. On Oct. 20, Trump was fined $5,000 for violating the order. Advertisement
The comments come during the second day of a $250 million lawsuit that alleges Trump and his co-defendants repeatedly committed fraud by inflating assets on financial statements to get better terms on commercial real estate loans and insurance policies.
