New York court reinstates Trump’s gag orders in civil fraud case

NEW YORK — A New York state appeals court on Thursday reinstated the gag orders issued by the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s $250 million civil fraud trial, lifting a pause on the orders that was put into effect earlier this month by one of the court’s judges.

In its two-page order, the appeals court didn’t explain its decision for reinstating the gag orders, which bar Trump and his lawyers from commenting on staff working for the trial judge, Justice Arthur Engoron.

The gag orders have been a central focus of the two-month trial, often eclipsing even the testimony. The initial gag order came just days into the trial, after Trump posted a disparaging social media message about the judge’s law clerk, Allison Greenfield, who sits alongside the judge on the bench. Engoron found that Trump subsequently violated the gag order twice, issuing him two fines totaling $15,000.

Following the initial gag order, Trump’s lawyers began complaining about Greenfield’s habit of passing notes to Engoron during proceedings and accusing her of “eye rolls and constant whispering.”

Engoron then issued a second gag order prohibiting all lawyers working on the trial “from making any public statements, in or out of court, that refer to any confidential communications, in any form, between my staff and me.”

Hours after an associate justice on the appeals court temporarily paused the gag orders on Nov. 16, Trump seized on the opportunity to publicly bash Greenfield, lashing out at her and Engoron on social media. “His Ridiculous and Unconstitutional Gag Order, not allowing me to defend myself against him and his politically biased and out of control, Trump Hating Clerk, who is sinking him and his Court to new levels of LOW, is a disgrace,” Trump wrote.

In a statement Thursday, Trump lawyer Chris Kise said the appeals court decision marked a “tragic day for the rule of law.”

“In a country where the First Amendment is sacrosanct, President Trump may not even comment on why he thinks he cannot get a fair trial. Hard to imagine a more unfair process and hard to believe this is happening in America,” Kise said.

Trump is separately challenging a gag order that was imposed by a federal judge in Trump’s Washington, D.C., criminal case for election interference. That gag order is on hold while a federal appeals court weighs its scope.