All those involved in the ongoing trial in New York City on claims from New York state Attorney General Letitia James of fraud at the Trump family business have now been made subject to what the presiding judge, Arthur Engoron, described as a gag order. The judge demanded no further public commentary, whether in verbal or social media form, targeting members of the court’s staff. Trump had recently done so.
His specific target was Allison Greenfield, Engoron’s law clerk. On Truth Social, Trump described the courtroom figure as the “girlfriend” of Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a factually untrue statement, though he used the ludicrous claim to again argue for the dismissal of the case against him, some of which already culminated in a finding from the judge that the former president had perpetrated fraud. “Consider this statement a gag order forbidding all parties from posting emailing or speaking publicly about any of my staff,” the judge said, according to reporter Erica Orden.
He threatened serious consequences should his order not be followed. “Failure to abide by this order will result in serious sanctions,” he said, per the same journalist.
Trump’s original post on Truth Social, which is his alternative social media platform, even included an evident link to a personal Instagram account belonging to the clerk, as if the possibility that his remarks would spark direct targeting from his frenzied fans wasn’t clear enough. (The post has been deleted, at the judge’s stated order.) The history of those opposite Trump facing threats to their safety from supporters of his is well documented. In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who brought a criminal case against Trump, pointed to such threats in a response to demands for insider information from the probe originating with House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
