NEW YORK — The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial worth 250 million dollars imposed a partial gag order on members of the former president’s legal team on Friday after he said they had made “inappropriate, repeated and recorded comments” about his top legal assistant.
Judge Arthur Engoron’s order said Christopher Kise, Clifford Robert and Alina Habba, lawyers for the former president and his adult children, “are prohibited from making public statements, in or out of court, that refer to confidential communications, in any form between me staff and me.”
“Failure to comply with this directive will result in serious penalties,” Engoron warned.
The judge said in his order that the three attorneys made comments about their secretary, “falsely accusing her of bias against them and of improperly influencing the ongoing trial.”
The lawyers, he added, had argued that it is improper for a judge to consult with a law clerk during ongoing proceedings and that the passing of notes between them has the “appearance of impropriety.”
“These arguments are without merit,” Engoron said in his order.
The judge added that he “will continue to consult with my staff, as is my unlimited right, during the remainder of the trial.”
The order comes after the trial continued Friday morning with Engoron arguing with Trump’s lawyers over the role of his legal assistant. The judge rejected Trump’s team’s argument that he is too “entangled” with his secretary, who passed him notes and sometimes whispered to him during testimony. Engoron said he spoke to another judge who had a similar relationship with a law clerk, and that the clerk’s role is unprecedented, as Trump’s lawyers have claimed.
Kise responded: “Yes, as a judge you have the right to receive advice. But if you receive advice in a way that indicates bias, we have to record that. The rulings are frequently, if not excessively, against us on all important issues,” Kise complained.
Engoron issued a gag order against Trump last month after he made disparaging comments about the paralegal on social media and to reporters. He was fined twice for violating the silence order.
To read the NBC News story click here.
2023-11-03 20:06:12
#Judge #Trumps #civil #fraud #trial #includes #presidents #lawyers #gag #order
