NEW YORK (AP) — A New York appeals court on Thursday reinstated a gag order barring Donald Trump from commenting on court employees after he defamed a law clerk in his New York office. Civil fraud investigation.
A separate appeals judge suspended the order two weeks after a sentencing decision by a four-judge panel.
Trial judge Arthur Engoron, who imposed the gag order, said he now plans to enforce it “strictly and aggressively”.
Trump lawyer Christopher Kiss called it “a sad day for the rule of law.”
Ngoron issued the initial sting order on Oct. 3 after Trump posted a disparaging comment on social media about the judge’s law clerk. The post, which included unsubstantiated allegations about the clerk’s personal life, came on the second day of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ trial.
James blamed Trump Exaggerated his wealth Financial statements used to obtain loans and make contracts. Trump denies any wrongdoing. The former president, now a front-runner for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination, argues the lawsuit is a political attack on James, a Democrat.
Engoron later fined Trump $15,000 and included his attorneys after he sat down with the judge, exchanged notes and questioned the key role of clerk Alison Greenfield, who advised him during testimony.
Trump’s lawyers filed The case against Engoron It challenged his bitter order as abuse of power.
Prosecutors tried to link Trump’s comments to an increase in nasty calls and messages directed at the judge and lawmaker.
Greenfield receives 20-30 calls a day to his personal cell phone and 30-50 messages a day to social media LinkedIn and two personal email addresses, a court security captain wrote in an affidavit last week.
Since the gag order was lifted, about half of the harassment and vilification messages Greenfield has received have been anti-Semitic, the captain said. The captain reported that the hundreds of harassing voicemails he received were the equivalent of 275 single-spaced pages of transcript.
Trump tweeted about Greenfield on Wednesday, calling the judge “a very disturbed and angry law clerk.”
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Associated Press writer Michael R. Contributed by Sisak.
