Donald Trump unexpectedly took the witness stand Wednesday in his civil fraud trial to face questioning from the judge about out-of-court comments in which Trump appeared to disparage the judge’s law clerk.
Finding Trump “not credible,” the judge then fined him $10,000 for defying a gag order that bars Trump from attacking court staff, marking the second time in the past week that the judge has fined Trump for violating the gag order.
“As the trier of fact, I find the witness is not credible,” Justice Arthur Engoron said after Trump testified....
...The episode that sparked the judge’s ire was a statement that Trump made earlier in the day to reporters in the hallway outside the courtroom. “This judge is a very partisan judge with a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is,” Trump said.
With Trump on the witness stand, the judge asked: “To whom were you referring?”
“You and Cohen,” Trump replied, referring to Michael Cohen, his former personal lawyer and fixer who testified about Trump’s business practices on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Engoron, however, indicated he believed Trump was referring to his law clerk, Allison Greenfield, who sits directly to the judge’s right on the bench and whom Trump had already disparaged once before....
...“I am very protective of my staff, as I should be,” Engoron said Wednesday, appearing agitated. “I don’t want anybody killed.”
“I stated the last time that any future violations would be severely punished,” Engoron said. “Why should there not be severe sanctions for this blatant, dangerous disobeyal of a court order?”...
...In his two-page order imposing the earlier fine, Engoron wrote: “Make no mistake: future violations, whether intentional or unintentional, will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions, which may include, but are not limited to, steeper financial penalties, holding Donald Trump in contempt of court, and possibly imprisoning him.”
