What did Donald Trump say about the law clerk? Justice Arthur Engoron slaps gag order upon former President

On Tuesday, October 3, former US President Donald Trump appeared in a New York courtroom for a fraud trial. While Trump was seated in a courtroom, a Truth Social (a free-speech social media platform founded and owned by him) post went viral, targeting Judge Arthur Engoron’s principal law clerk.

It claimed that the woman was “Schumer’s girlfriend,” allegedly linking her to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat. In fact, as per The Hill, the post went up even while the ex-president was seated just a few feet away from the law clerk.

As soon as the piece of news spread across the courtroom, Justice Engoron issued a limited gag order for both parties, aka the prosecution and the defense. For those uninitiated, a gag order refers to an order issued by a judge or a court official prohibiting specified individuals (especially the ones directly involved in the case) from discussing the matter outside the limitations set by the court.

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Donald Trump insinuated that principal law clerk and Democrat Chuck Schumer shared a personal relationship

On Tuesday, while Donald Trump was present in a New York courtroom where a $250 million civil fraud trial is going on against him, a Truth Social account with the handle @JudicialProtest posted:

“Why is Judge Engoron’s Principal Law Clerk, [name omitted], Palling Around With Chuck Schumer?”

Below the caption was an image of Democrat Senator Schumer with Engoron’s law clerk, in which both were seen posing with a smile for the camera. As per NBC News, the image was taken from an unidentified Instagram account where Senator Schumer and the law clerk were seen interacting during an event.

Apart from the Truth Social post, during the court’s lunch break, Donald Trump addressed the reporters in front of the courthouse and amplified the attack:

“You saw what was just put out about Schumer and the principal clerk? That is disgraceful,” the former President stated insinuating that the two shared an illicit personal relationship.

In addition, Donald Trump also took to his own Truth Social account and posted a similar comment, claiming that since the principal law clerk was Schumer’s girlfriend, the case against him should immediately be dismissed. Trump’s remarks may have been based on the fact that Senator Schumer openly stated on several occasions how he would like to see the former in prison.

As soon as Judge Engoron became aware of the controversial post, he immediately issued a gag order on Donald Trump without naming him but simply calling him “one of the defendants.” He also condemned the former President for his indirect actions and stated inside the court:

"Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate and I won’t tolerate it. Consider this a gag order on all parties with respect to posting or publicly speaking about any member of my staff," the judge said as per NBC News.

In fact, Justice Engoron also warned that violating the gag order would result in “swift and meaningful sanctions.”

Apart from slapping the gag order, Justice Engoron also ensured that the Truth Social post trashing his principal law clerk was removed. In fact, the court resumed 45 minutes later than the scheduled time after the lunch break. As per NBC News, during that span, Donald Trump’s attorneys, Chris Kise, Alina Habba, and Eric Trump (his son), were inside the judge’s closed chambers.

Interestingly, Engoron did not address Donald Trump’s several attacks on him, tagging him as “biased and a Trump-hating judge,” despite Tuesday’s email sent out by Trump’s presidential campaign that condemned him and mocked him as a “far-left Democrat.”

However, he set the record straight that his staff was off-limits. He further mentioned how the caption on the Truth Social post was “disparaging and untrue” and contained personal information, which was against the court’s rules.

Meanwhile, Senator Schumer’s spokesperson Allison Biasotti told NBC News that Donald Trump’s post was “pathetic, ridiculous, absurd, and false,” while also clearing the air that the senator did not personally know the law clerk.

“As is well known, Senator Schumer attends countless events in every corner of the state where tens of thousands of constituents take photos with him, just like this one, which was taken at a stop at an annual brunch in Manhattan,” she stated.

As for the prosecution, they explained that Trump’s efforts to violate court decorum and chastise a judge, a witness, or, in this case, a court staff, were based on his limited capacity to publicly discuss the case.

It is important to note that this was not the first gag order Donald Trump got involved in recent times. Last week, Jack Smith, the special counsel overseeing the Justice Department’s election interference case against the former President claimed that he has been carrying out “a sustained campaign of prejudicial public statements regarding witnesses, the Court, the District, and prosecutors" and should be court-ordered to restrict his comments.

Judge Tanya Chutkan has yet to hear Smith’s motion to issue the gag order on October 16, as reported by The Hill.