Former President Trump expressed his dissatisfaction with the judge overseeing his civil trial in New York, accusing the judge of being biased and hostile. The judge imposed a $10,000 fine on the former president for violating a gag order related to the case.
According to The Hill, in a post on Truth Social, Trump criticized the judge in the New York State Attorney General’s case for not accepting the Appeals Court’s decisions, which he believed was unprecedented in the state’s history. He claimed the judge had displayed intense animosity towards him, writing, “HE HAS GONE CRAZY IN HIS HATRED OF ‘TRUMP.’”
In a surprising turn of events, Trump took the witness stand to answer questions from Judge Arthur Engoron about a potential breach of the gag order, which prohibited Trump and other involved parties from discussing the judge’s staff. The violation stemmed from comments Trump made to reporters, insinuating bias on the part of a judge and a person sitting alongside him who may be even more partisan.
Engoron suggested that Trump was referring to his principal law clerk, who sits to the right of the judge. However, Trump denied this and claimed he was talking about his former associate, Michael Cohen, who was testifying in the case.
During his testimony, Trump expressed his belief that the judge’s clerk held a biased stance against him. Upon leaving the stand, Engoron imposed a $10,000 fine on Trump.
In response, Trump criticized the judge, calling him a “Radical Left Judge” and suggesting that he should not have been handling the case. He believed the case should have been in the Commercial Division and claimed that the judge had already made a biased judgment against him before the trial began. Trump also described the judge as “unhinged” and a “highly political and fully biased Trump Hater” in another post on Truth Social.
Trump referenced a previous post on Truth Social that led to the initial gag order. This post contained false information about the judge’s clerk and was removed by Trump. However, it remained on Trump’s campaign website for an additional 17 days, leading to a $5,000 fine from Engoron. Trump explained that a political group associated with his campaign was responsible for leaving the post online.
The lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James alleges over a decade of financial fraud by Trump, the Trump organization, and Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr.