A New York judge on Wednesday fined Donald Trump $10,000 for violating a gag order — and warned the former president that the penalties will only get worse if he keeps breaking the rules set for a civil trial in which he is accused of falsely inflating his property values.
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The five-figure penalty came after Judge Arthur Engoron unexpectedly called Trump to the witness stand to explain, under oath, a comment he made earlier in the day. Trump’s surprise testimony only lasted a few minutes, but in that time he failed to convince the judge of either his honesty or good intentions.
The dispute began outside of court, during a break in the testimony, when Trump said he believed that both Engoron and the person next to him were extremely partisan. Trump complained that Engoron, a Democrat, is “a very partisan judge, with a person who’s very partisan sitting along side of him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is.”
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Learning of those comments, Engoron — who had previously issued a gag order that barred the former president from making any public statements about court personnel — summoned Trump to explain exactly what he meant.
Trump said he was referring not to the judge’s law clerk, who sits next to him in court, but to Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, who had been on the witness stand earlier Wednesday.
Engoron said he didn’t believe Trump’s explanation.
“As the trier of fact I find that the witness is not credible," Engoron said, adding that he believed Trump was "referring to my ... principal law clerk, who is sitting much closer to me.” The judge noted there’s a barrier between the witness stand and the bench, and said that was part of the reason he believed Trump meant the clerk and not Cohen.
The $10,000 fine comes on top of a $5,000 fine Engoron issued against Trump last week for what he found was a previous violation of his gag order.
The face-off between the judge and the former president was not the first time the issue of the law clerk came up in Wednesday’s court session. On Wednesday morning, Trump lawyer Alina Habba had complained that the clerk was rolling her eyes throughout Tuesday’s cross-examination, calling it “distracting.”
After Engoron issued the fine, Trump’s lawyers asked him to reconsider. The judge said he would not reverse course.
“Don’t do it next time, or it’ll be worse,” the judge said.
The confrontation between the judge and the former president came at a critical moment in the trial, when Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen was testifying against him. The lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James accuses Trump of falsely inflating the worth of his real estate empire — an accusation that Cohen has made repeatedly since he and Trump had a bitter falling out.
The showdown between Cohen and Trump in court has been years in the making, and Cohen could prove to be an important witness in the judge’s ultimate decision over how much to penalize Trump or his business.
After the dust-up over the gag order, Trump’s lawyers made a longshot request for the judge to cut the trial short and issue a directed verdict, but the judge rejected that motion.
With that, Trump got up and walked out of the courtroom, muttering, “I’m leaving.”
Sign up for Fact Checker, our weekly review of what's true, false or in-between in politics.
The five-figure penalty came after Judge Arthur Engoron unexpectedly called Trump to the witness stand to explain, under oath, a comment he made earlier in the day. Trump’s surprise testimony only lasted a few minutes, but in that time he failed to convince the judge of either his honesty or good intentions.
The dispute began outside of court, during a break in the testimony, when Trump said he believed that both Engoron and the person next to him were extremely partisan. Trump complained that Engoron, a Democrat, is “a very partisan judge, with a person who’s very partisan sitting along side of him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is.”
Subscribe to The Trump Trials, our weekly email newsletter on Donald Trump's four criminal cases
Learning of those comments, Engoron — who had previously issued a gag order that barred the former president from making any public statements about court personnel — summoned Trump to explain exactly what he meant.
Trump said he was referring not to the judge’s law clerk, who sits next to him in court, but to Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, who had been on the witness stand earlier Wednesday.
Engoron said he didn’t believe Trump’s explanation.
“As the trier of fact I find that the witness is not credible," Engoron said, adding that he believed Trump was "referring to my ... principal law clerk, who is sitting much closer to me.” The judge noted there’s a barrier between the witness stand and the bench, and said that was part of the reason he believed Trump meant the clerk and not Cohen.
The $10,000 fine comes on top of a $5,000 fine Engoron issued against Trump last week for what he found was a previous violation of his gag order.
The face-off between the judge and the former president was not the first time the issue of the law clerk came up in Wednesday’s court session. On Wednesday morning, Trump lawyer Alina Habba had complained that the clerk was rolling her eyes throughout Tuesday’s cross-examination, calling it “distracting.”
After Engoron issued the fine, Trump’s lawyers asked him to reconsider. The judge said he would not reverse course.
“Don’t do it next time, or it’ll be worse,” the judge said.
The confrontation between the judge and the former president came at a critical moment in the trial, when Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen was testifying against him. The lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James accuses Trump of falsely inflating the worth of his real estate empire — an accusation that Cohen has made repeatedly since he and Trump had a bitter falling out.
The showdown between Cohen and Trump in court has been years in the making, and Cohen could prove to be an important witness in the judge’s ultimate decision over how much to penalize Trump or his business.
After the dust-up over the gag order, Trump’s lawyers made a longshot request for the judge to cut the trial short and issue a directed verdict, but the judge rejected that motion.
With that, Trump got up and walked out of the courtroom, muttering, “I’m leaving.”
