US Court Threatens To Jail Ex-President, Donald Trump Over Social Media Post Mocking Judge’s Clerk

A judge in United States Court based in New York has threatened to imprison former president, Donald Trump for “blatantly” violating a gag order on Friday after the former president failed to remove a social media post mocking the judge’s clerk.

As the civil court proceedings began on Friday, New York Judge, Arthur Engoron, questioned Trump’s lawyers about why “this blatant violation of the gag order would not result in serious sanctions, including financial sanctions and/or possibly imprisoning him.”

On the second day of the trial earlier this month, Engoron had ordered a gag order on Trump after he criticised the judge’s legal clerk, Allison Greenfield, in a social media post. Greenfield has been aiding Engoron throughout the trial, generally sitting in the courtroom next to the judge.

“Why is Judge Engoron’s Principal Law Clerk, Allison R Greenfield, palling around with Chuck Schumer?” Trump had posted on social media, along with a picture of her with Schumer and linking to her personal Instagram page.

Engoron had ordered Trump to remove the post and to cease posting about court staff, though the post remained on his campaign website weeks later.

Trump’s lawyer, Christopher Kise, apologised to the judge for the violation saying that Trump’s “campaign machinery” forgot to take down the post.

“There was no intention to evade or circumvent or ignore the order,” Kise said, adding that the post had been taken down.”

This is the latest crackdown Engoron has made against Trump and his lawyers. In his pre-trial ruling, Engoron sanctioned Trump’s lawyers for repeating arguments the judge struck down, fining them $7,500 each. Trump was also fined $110,000 earlier this year for not responding to subpoenas before the case went to court.

Engoron said he would take the explanation “under advisement”, and noted that Trump was “still responsible for the large machine”. The judge did not immediately rule on the violation, though a ruling could come later.

The trial is in its third week, and nearly a dozen witnesses have testified, including many former Trump Organisation employees and accountants. The state has gradually built its case that Trump and his company willfully misled about the valuations of several properties in order to artificially increase his net worth.

Trump will not be imprisoned if found guilty at the end of the trial because it is a civil case. Engoron determined in a pre-trial judgement that the valuations given on various financial statements were inaccurate. The legal lawsuit is about whether Trump purposefully listed incorrect appraisals. Engoron is the sole presider of the trial, which has no jury, due to the nature of the case.

Engoron ordered the cancellation of Trump’s business licences in his pre-trial finding, which could have major ramifications for Trump’s real estate industry. An appeal against the decision is still pending before an appellate court.

While Trump briefly attended the trial this week in anticipation of his former lawyer Michael Cohen’s imminent evidence, he was not present on Friday.