Trump is about to be held accountable for violating a New York judge’s gag order
Former President Donald Trump could be facing the wrath of a New York judge in court this morning.
On October 3, New York City judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over Trump's bank fraud trial, slapped Trump with a gag order in response to Trump making a false claim about Allison Greenfield, one of Engoron's law clerks, to social media site Truth Social. Trump amplified one of his supporter's tweets about Greenfield, claiming that she was allegedly "palling around with Chuck Schumer."
He also linked to the clerk's personal Instagram page, thereby giving his millions of followers a means of stalking and harassing Judge Engoron's clerk. The judge reportedly told Trump in a somber tone to never attack Greenfield again.
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?
While Trump's lawyers immediately took the post down from Truth Social, the statement remained live on Trump's personal website, DonaldJTrump.com, until recently, when Ron Filipowski, a writer for liberal website MeidasTouch, mentioned it on Thursday. An anonymous source told the Daily Beast that both Trump's lawyers and the New York Attorney General's Office were made aware that the gag order violation will come up during Friday morning's scheduled hearing.
Judge Engoron previously warned Trump and his legal team that failure to abide by the gag order would result in "serious sanctions." What those sanctions are won't be known until the hearing later this morning.
The former president's bank fraud trial is in response to a civil suit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The state is seeking $250 million in damages for allegedly inflating the value of Trump's real estate profile to obtain tax benefits and more favorable conditions for loans and insurance. If the state prevails, both Trump and his adult sons, Don Jr. and Eric, would be barred from serving as officers in any New York based corporation.
READ MORE: Here's why Trump's lawyers attacks on key bank fraud witness fall painfully flat
