US President Donald Trump was recently fined $10,000 for violating a gag order implemented as part of his ongoing civil fraud trial in New York, marking the second such fine he's been slapped with in less than a week.
The fine came after Judge Arthur Engoron questioned Trump on the witness stand, asking him about comments he made to the media during a midmorning break about a partisan "person" that sits near the judge during court proceedings.
"If we had a jury it would have been fair, at least — even if it was a somewhat negative jury — because no negative jury would vote against me," Trump had said during the earlier break. "But this judge will. Because this judge is a very partisan judge, with a person who's very partisan sitting alongside of him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is."
On the witness stand, Trump insisted his comments were about his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who is acting as a witness in the case - not the judge's law clerk Allison Greenfield, who he had previously criticized on social media. Despite Trump's explanations, Engoron found his testimony "not credible" and levied the fine against him.
Engoron has warned the Trump camp that "severe sanctions" may be levied against the former commander-in-chief for any future slip-ups. "I am very protective of my staff," the judge said.
Trump's legal team argued that his comments were directed at Cohen, but the judge disagreed. The violation follows a $5,000 fine imposed on Trump last Friday for comments he made about Greenfield, which were posted on social media.
The incident highlights the challenge of gag orders for a former president known for making public comments. In Washington, a federal judge had also imposed a gag order in an election interference case against Trump, which was on hold as an appeals court reviewed its merits.
Despite the fine, the incident overshadowed a potentially successful day for Trump's defense, as his lawyers managed to provoke inconsistencies in Cohen's testimony. "Their only witness, their chief witness, their only witness, just admitted, number one, he lied," Trump told reporters, after the day's hearings, as quoted by US media.