Trump Shares Post Labeling Judge Who Fined Him A ‘Lunatic’

Topline

Former President Donald Trump posted a video on Saturday slamming the New York judge overseeing his civil fraud trial as a “lunatic,” the day after the judge fined Trump $5,000 for violating a gag order in the case, though criticizing the judge would not represent a violation of the gag order.

Former President Donald Trump shared a post calling the judge overseeing his civil fraud case a … [+] “lunatic.”

Getty Images

Key Facts

Trump posted a video of New York Judge Arthur Engoron to his social media platform Truth Social with the caption: “It’s scary to think of the amount of power this lunatic currently has.”

In the seemingly innocuous video, which compiles clips from a 2015 speech Engoron gave to students at Queensborough Community College in New York City, Engoron admits “it’s hard to factor out my own emotions” in court cases, and that “juries get it wrong a lot,” adding he has experienced situations in court that prompted him to ask, “how could [the jury]

have thought that?”

Trump—who is accused, along with his business partners and the Trump Organization, of inflating the value of his assets—had been given a gag order earlier this month along with all parties in the civil fraud case, barring him from making any public statements, emails or social media posts regarding “any members of [Engoron’s] staff,” with Engoron calling that type of comment “unacceptable” and “inappropriate.”

That gag order came in response to a photo Trump posted on October 3 showing Engoron’s clerk with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) with the insinuation that the case was politically motivated, which Engoron claimed was “untrue, disparaging and personally identifying.”

Trump, who has made a habit of publicly criticizing prosecutors in a slate of legal battles, often turning to Truth Social to do so, was fined $5,000 on Friday as a result of the photo, which was posted before the gag order went into effect and was removed from Truth Social, but apparently remained on Trump’s website until Thursday—Engoron had previously threatened potential prison time for violating the gag order.

Key Background

New York Attorney General Letitia James brought the civil case against Trump and his business associates, including Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, following a civil investigation into the Trump Organization. In the $250 million suit, James claimed Trump and his partners committed “repeated and persistent” fraudulent acts, including by inflating the value of Trump’s assets. Trump has denied the allegations and claimed the case is politically motivated, arguing James—a Democrat—brought the case “to make me look bad,” while claiming she was motivated by “political and election interference reasons.” Engoron ruled last month the defendants in the case inflated the value of their assets, including his New York City Trump Tower penthouse and his Mar-A-Lago estate, which Trump boasted has a value of $1.5 billion—Engoron cited a Palm Beach County Assessor appraisal putting the property between $18 million and $27.6 million.

Contra

Trump’s comments are far from his first criticism of the case, one of a handful of cases he has slammed as a “witch hunt.” Following Engoron’s ruling last month, Trump called Engoron a “political hack judge,” arguing on Truth Social that “nobody has been as unhinged as this guy.” Trump also claimed last month, without evidence, that the federal Department of Justice was behind the New York civil case, arguing it “all comes down from the DOJ.”

Tangent

Trump also had also faced a gag order in his federal election interference case barring him from making public statements against court staff and “any reasonable foreseeable witness,” as well as DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith and members of his staff. Federal District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a temporary stay on that gag order on Friday following Trump’s appeal of the order.

Surprising Fact

A court employee in the civil fraud trial was arrested on Wednesday for approaching Trump inside the courtroom, after she yelled at Trump, saying she hoped to assist him, according to New York State Office of Court Administration spokesperson Lucien Chalfen. The employee—whose name was not released—was charged with contempt of court and placed on administrative leave.