Judge threatens contempt charges against Donald Trump over disparaging social media post
Donald Trump faces the possibility of being held in contempt by Judge Arthur Engoron in his ongoing civil fraud trial. The judge issued a stern warning after a social media post on Trump's campaign website, which had been ordered to be removed, remained visible for weeks.
Judge Engoron deemed this prolonged retention of the post as a «blatant violation» of his October 3rd order, which required Trump to promptly delete the offending message.
The order also included a limited gag order, preventing personal attacks on members of Engoron's judicial staff by Trump and others involved in the case.
Despite this, Judge Engoron has not yet decided on whether to impose sanctions on Trump, who is currently the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. He expressed concern that in the current tense climate, such incendiary posts can lead to harm.
Trump, who had appeared in court earlier this week, did not attend the proceedings on Friday.
During his recent appearances, he directed his criticism towards Judge Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose fraud lawsuit is at the center of the civil trial. Notably, both Engoron and James are not covered by the limited gag order.
Trump's lawyer, Christopher Kise, placed the blame on the «very large machine» of Trump's presidential campaign for failing to remove the deleted social media post from the campaign website.
He characterized it as an unintentional oversight.
However, Judge Engoron held that ultimately, the responsibility lies with Trump, even if a campaign member was responsible for the oversight. He stated, «I'll take this under advisement, but I want to be clear that Donald Trump is still responsible for the large machine even if it's a
