Trump Loses Gag Order Appeal in $250M New York Civil Fraud Case
“The gravity of potential harm is small... [and] limited to prohibiting solely statements regarding the court’s staff,” the appeals court said, rejecting his free speech argument.
Carlos Barria/Reuters
A New York state appeals court rejected Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn a gag order that banned the former president from publicly attacking court staff in his New York civil fraud case on Thursday.
The gag order was issued on Oct. 3, the second day of the trial, after Trump shared a photo on Truth Social of Judge Arthur Engoron’s principal law clerk, Allison Greenfield, posing with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and falsely labeling her as the Senate majority leader’s “girlfriend.” The since-deleted post also linked to Greenfield’s Instagram account and was considered an act of intimidation.
Engoron said the post led to the court being “inundated” with hundreds of threats from Trump’s supporters.
Last month, Trump appealed the gag order, claiming it violated his First Amendment right to free speech.
But the court, known as New York’s Appellate Division, First Department, stated Thursday, “Here, the gravity of potential harm is small, given that the Gag Order is narrow, limited to prohibiting solely statements regarding the court’s staff.”
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The court called Trump’s appeal an “extraordinary remedy” that did not fit with the minor penalty of restricting criticisms of Engoron’s staff.
Previously, Engoron fined Trump twice for violating his gag order and extended it to apply also to the former president’s legal team. In late October, Engoron wrote, “Make no mistake: future violations, whether intentional or unintentional, will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million civil lawsuit accuses Trump, his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and other senior executives in the Trump Organization of committing “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” over a span of decades to inflate the value of the former president’s finances in order to obtain more favorable loan terms.
James is also seeking to deny Trump and his sons the ability of continuing to conduct business in New York, a move Mediate says would likely dissolve the former president’s company.
Trump is also under a partial gag order in his federal election interference in Washington, D.C.
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