The judge fined Trump $5,000 for defamation

$5,000 for defamation
The judge fined Trump

October 21, 2023, 12:03 am

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Former US President Trump is fighting all the way in and out of court: He published a photo of a New York judge’s employee and accused the woman of being a “friend” of Democrat Schumer. The judge prevents him from doing this – and now fines him.

A New York judge has fined former US President Donald Trump $5,000 for defaming a court official. Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over Trump’s property fraud investigation, imposed the sentence for violating his order not to comment publicly on court employees, according to court documents. He also threatened prison terms for future violations.

In early October, the former president posted a photo of one of the judge’s staffers on his online site, Truth Social, and described him as a “friend” of Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Engoron later banned all those involved from publicly commenting on his staff: “Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable.”

The post was quickly deleted on Truth Community. But it was on Trump’s campaign website. “I learned last night that the incriminating post was never removed from the DonaldJTrump.com website and, in fact, remained on the site for the past 17 days,” the judge said. The post was eventually deleted after the court’s email.

Civil proceedings have been ongoing since early October

At a hearing, the judge asked Trump’s defense team why he should not impose “severe penalties” against the former president — including “fines” and possibly prison, according to media reports confirmed by a court spokeswoman. Attorney Chris Kiss responded that it was an oversight. “I apologize on behalf of my client.”

Engoron has now been fined around 4,700 euros. At the same time, he warned of “very severe penalties” for possible future violations of contempt of court. Imprisonment is also possible.

A civil suit against Trump in New York began in early October. New York Attorney General Letitia James accused the former president and entrepreneur of inflating the assets of his real estate empire over the years to get better terms for loans and insurance. Judge Engoron ruled before the trial began that Trump overstated his assets and thereby committed “fraud.”

Four criminal cases are pending against Trump

So the civil case is specifically concerned with the question of how much punishment against Trump and his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. James is seeking, among other things, $250 million in fines. Trump faces no prison sentence.

Trump, who has repeatedly appeared in person at the trial, has denied all the allegations, describing them as politically motivated. The Republican, who plans to run for president again in 2024, has also repeatedly attacked Judge Ngoron and Attorney General James.

In addition to civil actions related to fraud allegations in New York, the former president has been charged in four criminal cases. There are two accusations that right-wing populists are trying to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and thereby stay in power.