Former President Donald Trump took aim again Sunday at Judge Arthur Engoron, calling him “INSANE” and suggesting he be “thrown off the bench.”
Trump is facing a $250 million civil fraud lawsuit stemming from a lawsuit New York Attorney General Leticha James filed last year alleging that Trump and senior executives of The Trump Organization conspired to inflate his net worth with billions of dollars in financial statements provided to banks and insurers to close deals and secure loans. Trump, who is vying for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 and is the current front-runner, has denied any wrongdoing and called the process politically motivated.
Last week, Engoron, who oversees the case, fined Trump for the second time after he violated a partial gag order imposed to prevent him from attacking court officials overseeing James’ case. On Oct. 20, Engoron first fined Trump $5,000 for violating the gag order by failing to remove a post from his social media site, Truth Social, more than two weeks after a judge ordered it deleted.
Trump has previously criticized Engoron, most recently calling him an “incompetent” judge and a “political hack” on Saturday for his ruling against Ivanka Trump. Engoron ruled that she must testify in person, saying that while she was not a defendant in the case, she could still be subpoenaed in New York because she did business and owned property in the state.
“I want to see her in person. That’s how we prefer the testimony,” the judge said.
Addressing Truth Social again on Sunday, Trump spoke of the judge in part, saying, “The Trump-hating judge in this case went off the rails. The case should never have been brought by the corrupt, racist Attorney General, and by any other Judge, it would have been thrown out. Their star witness admitted he lied, “TRUMP didn’t raise values.” Judge says Mar-a-Lago is worth $18,000,000 when it’s 50 to 100 times that amount. I truly believe he is CRAZY!”
Trump continued: “This corrupt judge does not even acknowledge or accept the decision of the Court of Appeals. He gags me and fines me constantly, for no reason. He should be thrown off the “judge” as a huge embarrassment to the state of New York! “
Newsweek reached out to a Trump spokesman by email for comment.
Meanwhile, law professor Anthony Michael Kreis said Newsweek on Sunday, “Criminal defendants have every right to criticize judges as long as they are not engaged in activities that threaten to commit them [h]hand This is political noise – as unwise as it is to publicly show contempt for a judge against whom you have a case – and should not be punished.
Palm Beach County State’s Attorney Dave Aronberg also said Newsweek on Sunday that “Judge Engoron imposed a partial gag order on Trump, but it only applies to court staff — not the judge himself.”
Aronberg added: “As such, Trump will not be sanctioned for these inflammatory words. However, it may persuade the judge to expand his gag order to include others like himself.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.