The judge in former President Donald Trump's New York fraud trial threatened to hold him in contempt on Friday.
Judge Arthur Engoron's concern focused on a deleted social media post that remained on Trump's campaign website.
Judge threatens to hold Donald Trump in contempt after deleted post is found on campaign website https://t.co/SH76s2OgZA
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 20, 2023
"Trump lawyer Christopher Kise blamed the “very large machine” of Trump’s presidential campaign for allowing a version of his deleted social media post to remain on his website, calling it an unintentional oversight," the Associated Press reported.
"Engoron, however, said the buck ultimately stops with Trump — even if it was someone on his campaign who failed to remove the offending post," it added.
Judge threatens to hold Trump in contempt over post he ordered to be deleted | Just The News https://t.co/C7mKxrg2kS
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) October 20, 2023
"Engoron issued a gag order against Trump earlier this month to prevent him from publicly attacking the court staff. The order followed Trump posted an image of the court clerk, whom he referred to as 'Schumer's girlfriend,'" Just the News reported.
"While Trump deleted the post, the campaign distributed its original message in an email, which was archived on the campaign website and remained visible for weeks," it noted.
"Trump fined $5,000 after failing to remove post"
"Judge Arthur Engoron avoided holding Trump in contempt, for now, but reserved the right to do so – and possibly even put him in jail – if he continued to violate a gag order"https://t.co/jPxhmEP8Tr
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 21, 2023
"A New York judge fined former US president Donald Trump $5,000 on Friday after a disparaging social media post about a key court staffer in his New York civil fraud case was allowed to linger on his campaign website after the judge ordered it deleted," the Guardian reported.
"Judge Arthur Engoron avoided holding Trump in contempt, for now, but reserved the right to do so – and possibly even put him in jail – if he continued to violate a gag order barring parties in the case from personal attacks on court staff," it continued.
The warning and fine could be a prelude to a future contempt charge that would result in Trump spending time in jail.
If so, the action would likely backfire, making Trump more popular during the Republican primary.
The case has yet to slow the former president's comeback bid, with Trump in close contention with Biden in nationwide polls.
