President Trump had made a post on Truth Social with a photo of Ms. Greenfield with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York ordered a limited gag order on Oct. 3 after the former president made a disparaging social media post about a court staffer.
After flip-flopping several times on his opinion of the presiding judge, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, President Trump maligned Justice Engoron’s principal law clerk, Allison Greenfield, in a social media post. Justice Engoron is known to regularly confer with Ms. Greenfield on cases.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, President Trump linked to an Instagram account with a photo of Ms. Greenfield with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and claimed she was “running” the case and made unsubstantiated claims about their relationship. The post was amplified by a campaign email blast on Oct. 3, and millions had seen it.
When the court broke for a lunch break, two closed-door meetings were held. The trial resumed after the delay and the judge explained that he had ordered that the post be taken down.
The post was deleted by the time the trial resumed.
“Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable and inappropriate,” Justice Engoron said. He added that he had already warned both parties against such attacks on Oct. 2.
“Consider this a gag order on all parties with respect to posting or publicly speaking about any member of my staff,” he said, adding that violations of this order wouldn’t be tolerated and would result in sanctions.
President Trump’s legal team has already been sanctioned multiple times by Justice Engoron, who ruled that the attorneys had made “frivolous” arguments repeatedly even after he had dismissed them.
First Testimony
Last September, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued the former president, claiming he defrauded the state by inflating his net worth to obtain more favorable deals from insurers and banks between 2011 and 2021. She is seeking $250 million in damages and to bar President Trump and his two adult sons from doing business in the state.
