After former president Donald Trump unleashed an online attack on the chief law clerk for the judge presiding over his civil fraud trial, including a photo of her, the judge imposed a gag order on Tuesday prohibiting Trump from making any more comments about court workers.
A little more than 15 feet separate Trump from Allison Greenfield, the court clerk. “This morning one of the defendants posted to his social media account a disparaging, untrue and personally identifying post about a member of my staff,” said Justice Arthur Engoron.
“Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate, and I will not tolerate them under any circumstances,” Engoron went on to say.
On Monday, the judge reportedly advised Trump “off the record” to refrain from making such comments, but Trump disregarded his advice. On Tuesday, when Trump initially shared the content online, Engoron instructed him to remove it, and it was swiftly removed from Trump’s Truth Social profile.
“Consider this statement a gag order forbidding all parties from posting, emailing, or speaking publicly about any of my staff,” Engoron said. “Severe sanctions will result from disobeying this order.”
Trump wrote on Twitter earlier on Tuesday that Greenfield “is running this case against me.” An X account with fewer than 200 followers was mined for the message. Trump then provided a link to Greenfield’s campaign Instagram account for the Manhattan civil court judgeship.
Oh, the shame! This case must be thrown out immediately!! Added Trump. He tagged her as “Schumer’s girlfriend” on a photo of her and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Trump’s campaign then used an email blast to distribute his social media message a few minutes later.
Trump’s tweet against Greenfield appeared during the morning session of the trial. After a short break for lunch, the judge summoned the parties back to court without resuming press access. After a 45-minute delay due to lunch, court resumed.
Greenfield has been seated directly to the right of Engoron since the trial began on Monday morning, putting her in direct line of sight of Trump. She went back to listening to Engoron read the gag order on Tuesday afternoon from the same chair.
New York state is seeking up to $250 million in penalties from Trump, his adult sons, and their businesses for what they call ongoing corporate fraud.
Throughout the many years of litigation surrounding the Trump Organisation, Greenfield has played a pivotal role, most notably in the year leading up to the current case, when New York Attorney General Tish James, who filed the civil fraud lawsuit, attempted to subpoena Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump against their will. James also stated his displeasure with the Trump Organization’s tardiness in responding to subpoenas.
The clerk played a crucial role in the proceedings, as Engoron frequently asked her to pose questions to the attorneys representing both sides. In addition, the judge almost never ended a hearing without first discussing any remaining issues with Greenfield and then bringing them up to the parties.
The timing of Engoron’s decision is perfect, as a federal judge in Washington, D.C. is currently considering prosecutors’ request for a more severe gag order on Trump. Prosecutors have accused Trump of repeatedly harassing and intimidating witnesses, tainting the D.C. jury pool, and fueling threats against prosecutors and the court.
The case will be heard by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on October 16. Despite being warned that prosecutors were pursuing a gag order, Trump unleashed a barrage of assaults on social media against key witnesses in the federal case brought against him by special counsel Jack Smith in Washington, D.C. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an expected witness in both of Trump’s federal criminal trials, was the target of his harshest criticisms.
In another of Trump’s criminal trials, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted him on state charges after hearing Trump verbally attack judges, prosecutors, and court workers. Before jury selection begins, the judge in charge of the case, Justice Juan Merchan, issued a protective order barring Trump from learning the identities or identifying information of anyone in Bragg’s office other than prosecutors and law enforcement officials.
Prosecutors wrote in a court filing asking for the protective order that Trump “has a longstanding and perhaps singular history of attacking witnesses, investigators, prosecutors, trial jurors, grand jurors, judges, and others involved in legal proceedings against him, putting those individuals and their families at considerable safety risk.”