Judge Engoron Tears Into Donald Trump in Courtroom

The judge in Donald Trump's civil fraud trial warned that the former president was putting the lives of court staff in danger and rejected his claims that he was speaking to reporters about a witness, not a court clerk.

Trump was fined $10,000 after breaking a gagging order and allegedly putting a court clerk's life at risk.

"As a trier of fact, I find that the witness is not credible," Judge Arthur Engoron said as he imposed the fine.

The trial stems from a $250 million lawsuit New York Attorney General Letitia James filed in 2022 alleging that Trump and top executives at The Trump Organization conspired to increase his net worth by billions of dollars on financial statements provided to banks and insurers to make deals and secure loans. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

Engoron, who is presiding over Mr. Trump's civil fraud trial in Manhattan found that Trump had violated the gagging order by talking to reporters earlier on Wednesday about the judge's law clerk, Allison Greenfield.

Engoron had previously rebuked Trump for attacking Greenfield on social media and forbade him from criticizing court staff.

During a break in the case on Wednesday morning, Trump told reporters that Engoron was partisan, which is permitted under the gag order. Trump then added that Engoron had "a person who's very partisan sitting alongside him. Perhaps even much more partisan than he is."

After the break, Engoron said he was concerned that Trump's comments could result in real danger.

"I am very protective of my staff," Justice Engoron said, adding: "I don't want anybody killed."

Trump's lawyer, Christopher M. Kise, said Trump had been referring to his former attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, who was testifying that day.

Engoron held a brief hearing to determine the object of Trump's criticism and called him to the witness stand. Engoron asked him if he had referred to Greenfield in the past as "biased."

Trump said he thought Greenfield was "maybe unfair, and I think she's very biased against us" but said he was referring to Michael Cohen in his earlier comments.

As soon as Trump left the witness stand, Engoron announced "I find that the witness is not credible," and fined Trump $10,000.

On October 20, Engoron fined Trump $5,000 for failing to remove a post about Greenfield from his website. The post falsely declared Greenfield was the girlfriend of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, suggesting the civil trial was politically biased against the Republican presidential hopeful.

During his appearance in court on Wednesday, Cohen said he did not recall the former president directing him to inflate the value of Trump properties on financial statements. Trump threw up his hands in exclamation as Cohen said this.

Trump's legal team then asked Engoron to dismiss the case, which he immediately denied. Trump then got up and left the courtroom. Trump was quickly followed by his Secret Service detail and his son Eric, who is also named in James' lawsuit.

Cohen then explained that Trump didn't have to explicitly tell him to inflate the property values.

"Donald Trump speaks like a mob boss. He tells you what he wants without telling you," Cohen said.

Outside the courtroom, Trump denounced Cohen as a "total sleazebag." Following his testimony, Cohen described the former president as a "defeated man."

Newsweek has sought comment from attorneys representing Trump and Cohen.