Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York went sideways on Friday before things even got started—and by the end of the day, an increasingly exasperated Judge Arthur Engoron, who furiously accused Trump’s legal team of misogyny on Thursday, had placed a sternly worded gag order on the lawyers representing the former president.
Engoron barred Trump attorneys Chris Kise, Alina Habba, and Clifford Robert from making statements “about internal and confidential communications (be it conversations, note passing, or anything similar) between me and my staff,” after they made “on the record, repeated inappropriate remarks about my Principal Law Clerk, falsely accusing her of bias against them and of improperly influencing the bench trial.”
“Since the commencement of this bench trial, my chambers have been inundated with hundreds of harassing and threatening phone calls, voicemails, emails, letters and packages,” the order said. “The First Amendment right of defendants and their attorneys to comment on my staff is far and away outweighed by the need to protect them from threats and physical harm.”
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The order is purposely narrow, and does not prevent anyone from saying whatever they like about Engoron. It expands an existing gag order that had, until Friday, only applied to Trump and not his attorneys, which Engoron said he assumed would be “unnecessary… [as they are] officers of the court.”
Friday’s proceedings opened with Engoron raising his very evident concerns about Trump and his legal team repeatedly haranguing Engoron’s law clerk, Allison Greenfield, over perceptions of “bias.”
“I’m worried about this,” Engoron said.
“To the extent that there is the perception of bias,” defense attorney Chris Kise responded, he needed to “as a lawyer… at least mark it.”
Engoron said he didn’t view the case as a political one, and “promised not to pound the table again, the bench,” but reiterated that he had an “unfettered right to get assistance” from his clerk, who sits by his side on the bench, and said he had “no idea” how that showed bias.
“You can say whatever you want about me,” he said. “And that has been taken advantage of. I think that’s where there would be any appearance of bias, but I cut this case right down the middle.”
To that, Kise launched into a diatribe about things “treading in a dangerous area here.”
“The entire country, if not the world, is watching this proceeding,” he railed. “And the U.S. heretofore has been a model for integrity and impartiality in the judicial system, since its founding. Nothing in here should create any appearance that the adherence to those principles has wavered… Yes, as a judge you’re entitled to receive [assistance], but from someone who has potentially demonstrable bias… and the manner in which that has taken place, we at least have to make a record.”
Kise repeated the same argument he made at the end of the day on Thursday, complaining that “things are frequently, if not inordinately, [ruled] against us on every major issue.” He said he felt as if he were battling “two adversaries, not one,” and brought up an article published on Thursday night calling for Greenfield to be disbarred over her political donations to Democrats.
He said the allegations in the article were “delivered to the court” on Friday morning, and that he may move for a mistrial, adding that the same “information” about “extrajudicial conduct” was raised last month.
“It’s not information, it’s an allegation,” Engoron snapped, saying he had no idea what article Kise was talking about and hadn’t seen it.
Christopher Kise, one of Donald Trump’s defense attorneys.
Marco Bello/ReutersKise didn’t remember which publication it was, but said, “I think it may be Breitbart,” to laughter from the gallery. (It was, indeed, a Breitbart article about a complaint filed by a Wisconsin man not involved in the trial.)
That’s when Engoron seemed to have had enough, calling Kise’s claim that Engoron had been apprised on Friday morning of the story in question, “ABSOLUTELY UNTRUE, OK?!”
“I would have remembered receiving such an allegation,” he thundered, adding. “Let everybody in the room decide what they think of Breitbart… It's a shame things have descended to this level.”
After Engoron informed the defense that he simply wanted to “move ahead with the trial,” Eric Trump finally took the stand—some 30 minutes behind schedule—to resume his testimony from Thursday.
He said he had only signed off on allegedly manipulated financial statements for his dad after highly paid experts assured him that everything was on the up and up.
“I relied on one of the biggest accounting firms in the country, and a great legal team,” Eric testified.
Later, he provided conflicting answers about whether or not his father’s Mar-a-Lago estate is a private residence or a members-only club. (Trump made the property his home following the end of his presidency.)
“It’s very clear that Mar-a-Lago is not a club, it’s a private residence,” Eric said, subsequently answering a prosecutor’s question, “Mar-a-Lago is a private club, yes.”
Relations between Engoron and Trump’s team have grown increasingly frosty. At the end of Thursday’s proceedings, Engoron exploded at Kise, pounding on the bench and threatening to expand a gag order to keep Trump’s lawyers from attacking court staff.
Kise had complained that Greenfield was passing notes to Engoron, suggesting that she was “co-judging” the trial. But a furious Engoron said he had an “absolute unfettered right to get advice” from his principal law clerk, arguing there “may be a bit of misogyny” in the repeated attacks on Greenfield. (Kise insisted he couldn’t be a misogynist because he’s married and has a daughter.)
Engoron has previously fined Trump $15,000 for repeatedly attacking Greenfield in violation of a gag order, including a social media post in which he called Greenfield “[Chuck] Schumer’s girlfriend.”
