Judge issues gag order against Trump in NY fraud case

Tuesday's gag order is limited and restricted to public comments against members of court staff, reports the BBC

New York: A US judge has issued a limited gag order against former President Donald Trump in the New York civil fraud case after the latter made “disparaging” remarks about a court clerk.

Tuesday’s gag order is limited and restricted to public comments against members of court staff, reports the BBC.

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Earlier on Tuesday, the former President had posted a picture on his social media site Truth Social of principal clerk Allison Greenfield with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer at a campaign event.

In the post, he called Greenfield “Schumer’s girlfriend” and said that the case against him should be dismissed. After a court break, Judge Arthur Engoron did not mention anyone by name but referenced the Truth Social post and said that a defendant “posted to a social media account a disparaging, untrue and personally identifying post about a member of my staff”.

“Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate and I will not tolerate them under any circumstances,” he said.

“Failure to abide by this order will result in serious sanctions,” the BBC quoted the judge as saying. Justice Engoron said that his statement should be considered a gag order forbidding any posts, emails or public remarks about members of his staff. The post was removed shortly after the gag order.

Trump has called the trial a “fraud” and a “scam” and pledged to take the stand in his own defence.

Asked if he would testify in the case, he said: “Yes, I will. At the appropriate time, I will be.” The former president, his two sons and the wider Trump Organization are accused of massively inflating the value of their properties by more than $2 billion in order to secure favourable loans, reports the BBC.

Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $250 million and sanctions that could prevent the Trump family from doing business in the state of New York. None of the defendants will face jail time if convicted, because this is a civil case not a criminal one.