The New York judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in the Big Apple recently handed down a slew of gag orders directed at the former president’s lawyers, preventing them from speaking ill of his staff.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, hand-picked by New York Attorney General Letitia James to oversee Trump’s civil fraud trial, slammed the former president’s lawyers for attacking his staff, as reported by Newsmax.
Engoron’s gag orders came after Trump attorney Chris Kise repeatedly traded barbs with law clerk Allison Greenfield.
Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers have been placed under a partial gag order by New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron following a wild day in court. https://t.co/q192hsyfrg https://t.co/q192hsyfrg
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) November 4, 2023
“Do not refer to my staff again. She’s a civil servant. She’s doing what I ask her to do,” Engoron told Kise in court. “I sometimes think there may be a bit of misogyny in you referring to my female principal law clerk.”
Trump lawyer Alina Habba didn’t respond in kind to Engoron’s comments and assured that the problem at hand is wholly unrelated to Kise being misogynistic toward the judge’s law clerk.
“I assure you that’s not the issue,” Habba said.
Engoron, visibly angry, then proceeded to slam the table, saying, “I have an absolute unfettered right to get advice from my principal law clerk.”
The gag orders resemble those already placed on Trump in Washington, D.C., where an Obama-appointed judge oversees the case against the former president. In that case, Trump is prohibited from speaking negatively about Special Counsel Jack Smith, the man responsible for indicting him.
Smith is a left-leaning prosecutor brought forth by the Bide administration’s weaponized Department of Justice (DOJ), whose wife worked with former first lady Michelle Obama to produce a documentary.
Trump has since appealed the gag orders he’s subjected to in Washington, D.C.
The former president’s lawyers are now subject to the same penalties as the former president.
As Americans see the clear presence of partisanship in the New York case against Trump, many are calling the gag orders a brazen violation of the former president’s First Amendment, and now, of his lawyers.
Engoron, though, stands by his decision to slap the former president and his lawyers with a gag order.
“The First Amendment right of defendants and their attorneys to comment on my staff is far and away outweighed by the need to protect them from threats and physical harm,” the New York judge said.
