According to Mediaite, during the recess in his New York civil fraud trial, former President Donald Trump remained characteristically tight-lipped when approached by a reporter seeking comment on the proceedings. With a gesture signaling for silence, Trump walked away, offering no verbal response to the inquiry about the trial’s progress.
Anticipation had been building for an explosive courtroom showdown, fueled by Trump’s prior criticisms of the case before his appearance. Upon taking the stand, Trump’s responses were marked by lengthy monologues and continued attacks directed at Judge Arthur Engoron, prompting the judge to caution Trump’s legal team about potential consequences if such behavior persisted.
Under a partial gag order, Trump had been prohibited from further public attacks on court personnel after he publicly targeted the judge’s law clerk, revealing her name and sharing a link to her Instagram account on his social media.
The trial, initiated by New York Attorney General Letitia James, seeks to ascertain penalties in response to allegations of Trump’s fraudulent inflation of assets over an extended period. Engoron had previously found Trump liable for the fraud in a summary ruling, and the trial now aims to determine the appropriate penalties. James is pursuing a $250 million fine and seeking to prohibit Trump and his adult sons from conducting business in the state of New York, which would effectively result in the dissolution of Trump’s company and necessitate the sale of several of his heavily indebted assets.
“I beseech you to control him if you can,” Engoron said. “If you can’t, I will. I will excuse him and draw every negative inference that I can.”
