NEW YORK (AP) —
A New York judge on Tuesday imposed a limited gag order in Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial after the former president lashed out at a member of the court.
Judge Arthur Engoron issued the order during a long day of testimony. The measure applies to all parties involved in the case and refers to verbal attacks against court personnel. The order came after Trump criticized Engoron’s top legal assistant, Allison Greenfield, on social media.
The post included a photo of Greenfield with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, at a public event. Trump, the leader in polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has repeatedly referred to the lawsuit and the trial as a political attack by New York Attorney General, Democrat Letitia James.
Trump wrote that it was “unfortunate” that Greenfield worked with the judge on the court.
Beyond that, and with Trump voluntarily attending the trial for a second day — and planning to do so for a third time — James’ lawyer questioned an accountant in an attempt to bolster the state’s argument that Trump and other members of his company had absolute control over the preparation of misleading or completely false financial statements around which the case revolves.
And Engoron clarified a comment that the former president had considered an important victory.
Engoron had hinted Monday that testimony related to a 2011 Trump financial disclosure may have fallen outside the applicable time limit in James’ lawsuit. The complaint alleges that Trump and his companies chronically lied about his wealth in financial statements they presented to banks and insurers, among others. Trump denies any wrongdoing.
The relevant statute of limitations rules out claims related to activities prior to a date in 2014, and Trump’s legal team has argued that the statute of limitations leaves out most of the case.
Engoron ruled last week that all the allegations were allowed by the statute of limitations. He said Tuesday that the trial is not “an opportunity to rejudge something that I had already decided” and that, during the early stages of the trial, he is willing to give both sides considerable latitude to relate prior evidence to the allegations included. on the demand.
Accountant Donald Bender continued his testimony about the years he worked on preparing Trump’s financial statements with figures provided to him by the former president’s company.
In some years, the Trump Organization did not provide all the documents necessary to prepare financial statements, despite stating in letters sent to the accounting firm that it had provided all financial records and that it was “not aware of having withheld” relevant data.
“They didn’t give all the documents we needed,” Bender testified, explaining that “there were some valuations for several years that we had never seen.”
In cross-examination of Bender, attorney Jesus M. Suarez referred to Trump in superlatives and questioned the accountant about the magnitude of working “for the 45th president of the United States, possibly even the 47th president of the United States.”
A state attorney sparked laughter in court when he objected to the question and questioned its relevance.
Regarding the gag order, without directly mentioning Trump, Engoron said that a defendant in the case “posted on a social media account a derogatory, false, and personally identifying post about a member of my staff.” He added that “personal attacks on members of my court are unacceptable, inappropriate and I will not tolerate them.”
Trump had already deleted the post. Engoron said that he ordered it to be deleted.
The trial is scheduled to last until December.
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2023-10-03 15:41:04
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