Donald Trump got more bad news Wednesday in the $250 million civil fraud trial ongoing in New York.
Judge Arthur Engoron fined Trump $10,000 for violating his gag order for the second time in as many weeks.
“If we had a jury it would have been fair, at least — even if it was a somewhat negative jury — because no negative jury would vote against me,” Trump said during a break in proceedings, according to NPR.
“But this judge will. Because this judge is a very partisan judge, with a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is.”
Engoron made Trump take the stand when the court returned and asked him, under oath, about who he meant was more partisan than him that was “sitting alongside him.”
Trump claimed he was talking about his former longtime fixer, Michael Cohen, who was giving testimony in the case. But Engoron “inferred Trump’s remarks were meant for his clerk, who sits to his right,” according to NPR.
Trump had previously drawn Engoron’s ire for blasting the clerk as a “partisan Democrat.”
Engoron warned Trump about the dire consequences for him if he kept violating the gag order against criticizing his staff.
“I am very protective of my staff,” Engoron said. He threatened the former president with “severe sanctions” if his violations continued.
[NPR]
