Current:Home > InvestJudge threatens to hold Donald Trump in contempt after deleted post is found on campaign website-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Judge threatens to hold Donald Trump in contempt after deleted post is found on campaign website
View Date:2024-12-23 18:21:44
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial judge threatened Friday to hold the former president in contempt, raising the possibility of fining or even jailing him because a disparaging social media post about a key court staffer remained visible for weeks on his campaign website after the judge had ordered it deleted.
Judge Arthur Engoron said the website’s retention of the post was a “blatant violation” of his Oct. 3 order requiring Trump to immediately delete the offending message. The limited gag order, hours after Trump made the post on the trial’s second day, also barred him and others involved in the case from personal attacks on members of Engoron’s judicial staff.
Engoron did not immediately rule on potentially sanctioning Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, but noted that “in this current overheated climate” incendiary posts can and have led to harm.
Trump, who returned to the trial Tuesday and Wednesday after attending the first three days, wasn’t in court on Friday. During his appearance this week, he reserved his enmity for Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose fraud lawsuit is being decided at the civil trial. Neither are covered by Engoron’s limited gag order.
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.
Engoron, however, said the buck ultimately stops with Trump — even if it was someone on his campaign who failed to remove the offending post.
“I’ll take this under advisement,” Engoron said after Kise explained the mechanics of how Trump’s post was able to remain online. “But I want to be clear that Donald Trump is still responsible for the large machine even if it’s a large machine.”
Engoron issued a limited gag order on Oct. 3 barring all participants in the case not to smear court personnel after Trump publicly maligned his principal law clerk, Allison Greenfield, in what the judge deemed a ”disparaging, untrue and personally identifying” Truth Social post. The judge ordered Trump to delete the post, which he did, and warned of “serious sanctions” for violations.
The post included a photo of Greenfield, posing with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., at a public event. With it, Trump wrote that it was “disgraceful” that Greenfield was working with Engoron on the case.
Before Trump deleted the post from his Truth Social platform, as ordered, his campaign copied the message into an email blast. That email, with the subject line “ICYMI,” was automatically archived on Trump’s website, Kise said.
The email was sent to about 25,800 recipients on the campaign’s media list and opened by about 6,700 of them, Kise told Engoron after obtaining the statistics at the morning break. In all, only 3,700 people viewed the post on Trump’s campaign website, the lawyer said.
“What happened appears truly inadvertent,” Kise said. The lawyer pleaded ignorance to the technological complexities involved in amplifying Trump’s social media posts and public statements, calling the archiving “an unfortunate part of the campaign process.”
“President Trump has not made any statements of any kind about court staff, has abided by the order completely, but it appears no one also took down the ICYMI — in case you missed it — link that is in the campaign website in the back pages,” Kise explained.
New York law allows judges to impose fines or imprisonment as punishment for contempt. Last year, Engoron held Trump in contempt and fined him $110,000 for being slow to respond to a subpoena in the investigation that led to the lawsuit.
James’ lawsuit accuses Trump and his company of duping banks and insurers by giving them heavily inflated statements of Trump’s net worth and asset values. Engoron has already ruled that Trump and his company committed fraud, but the trial involves remaining claims of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records.
veryGood! (379)
Related
- Kansas basketball vs Michigan State live score updates, highlights, how to watch Champions Classic
- Israel accuses UN chief of justifying terrorism for saying Hamas attack ‘didn’t happen in a vacuum’
- 'American Horror Stories': Release date, cast, trailer, how to watch 'AHS' spinoff series
- Clarence Thomas loan for luxury RV was forgiven, Senate Democrats say
- Skiing legend Lindsey Vonn ends retirement, plans to return to competition
- Oregon Supreme Court to decide if GOP senators who boycotted Legislature can run for reelection
- Officials still looking for bear who attacked security guard in luxury hotel
- Federal officials say plan for water cuts from 3 Western states is enough to protect Colorado River
- Mega Millions winning numbers for November 12 drawing: Jackpot rises to $361 million
- Swedish court acquits Russian-born businessman of spying for Moscow
Ranking
- Investigation into Chinese hacking reveals ‘broad and significant’ spying effort, FBI says
- NFL trade deadline targets: 23 players who could be on block
- Australian hydrogen company outlines US expansion in New Mexico, touts research
- 'The Gilded Age' has bustles, butlers, and Baranski
- Burger King is giving away a million Whoppers for $1: Here's how to get one
- Escaped Virginia inmate who fled from hospital is recaptured, officials say
- US not ruling out retaliation against Iran-backed groups after attacks on soldiers
- FDA gathering information on woman who allegedly died after drinking Panera Bread lemonade
Recommendation
-
Stocks soared on news of Trump's election. Bonds sank. Here's why.
-
Why Amazon stock was down after Alphabet's earnings news
-
'The Walking Dead' actor Erik Jensen diagnosed with stage 4 cancer: 'I am resilient'
-
Five NFL teams that should be sellers at trade deadline: What will Commanders, Broncos do?
-
2 Florida women charged after shooting death of photographer is livestreamed
-
Many chocolate products contain worrying levels of lead or other heavy metals, Consumer Reports says
-
Love your old yellow pillow? It's a health hazard, experts say.
-
Venezuela’s attorney general opens investigation against opposition presidential primary organizers