NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� A New York judge quickly imposed a limited gag order in Donald Trump's civil business fraud trial Tuesday after the former president disparaged a key court staffer.
Interrupting a long day of testimony, Judge Arthur Engoron issued the order, which applies to all parties in the case and pertains to verbal attacks on court staff. It came after Trump recirculated a critical social media post about Engoron鈥檚 principal law clerk, Allison Greenfield.
The post included a photo of Greenfield with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., posing for a picture at a public event. Trump, the Republican front-runner for president in 2024, has repeatedly cast the lawsuit and trial as a political attack by New York鈥檚 Democratic attorney general, Letitia James. Trump wrote that it was 鈥渄isgraceful鈥� that Greenfield was working with the judge in the courtroom.
Aside from that sideshow, with Trump attending the trial for a second day, James鈥� attorney questioned an accountant in an effort to build the state鈥檚 case that Trump and others at his company had full control over the preparation of misleading and downright false financial statements at the heart of the lawsuit against them.
And Engoron set the record straight about a comment that the ex-president had touted as an important victory.
Engoron had suggested on Monday that testimony about Trump鈥檚 2011 financial statement might be beyond the legal time limit applicable to Attorney General James鈥� lawsuit. It alleges that Trump and his business chronically lied about his wealth on financial statements given to banks, insurers and others.
The relevant statute of limitations rules out claims related to activities before a date in 2014, and Trump鈥檚 legal team has argued that the time limit cuts off most of the case.
Engoron said Tuesday that 鈥渟tatutes of limitations bar claims, not evidence鈥� and that at the trial鈥檚 early stage, he鈥檚 inclined to give both sides considerably leeway to connect older evidence to claims in the lawsuit.
鈥淚 want to emphasize: This trial is not an opportunity to relitigate what I have already decided,鈥� Engoron said. He that all the claims were allowable under the statute of limitations.
A lawyer for James鈥� office, Kevin Wallace, went on to suggest that he was using the 2011 document to show that Trump鈥檚 financial statements were prepared in the same manner 鈥� giving him and his company the final say over the valuations that appeared 鈥� for at least a decade.
Donald Bender, an accountant who prepared the financial statements for years, testified that Trump鈥檚 company supplied the numbers that went into the documents. Each spreadsheet was marked 鈥淧BC,鈥� for 鈥減repared by client,鈥� in big, red letters, Bender said.
Bender testified that in some years, the Trump Organization failed to provide all documents necessary for producing the statements, despite attesting in letters to the account firm that it had provided all financial records.
鈥淭hey were not giving all of the documents that we needed,鈥� Bender testified, explaining that 鈥渢here were certain appraisals out there for a number of years that we had never seen.鈥�
As for the gag order, without naming Trump, Engoron said that a defendant in the case "posted to a social media account a disparaging, untrue and personally identifying post about a member of my staff.鈥� He added that 鈥減ersonal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, not appropriate鈥� and not tolerated
Trump had already deleted the post. Engoron said he ordered it gone.
Trump also commented on the clerk's role with the judge on Monday, saying that she 鈥渟hould not be allowed to be in his ear on every single question鈥� and 鈥渉ates Trump.鈥�
Trump, who denies any wrongdoing in the case, said during one court break that he thought the trial was 鈥済oing very well.鈥� He reiterated key points of his defense, including that the financial statements bore disclaimers saying that they weren鈥檛 audited and that others 鈥渕ight reach different conclusions鈥� about his financial position if they had more information.
鈥淭his case is a scam. It can鈥檛 be fraud when you鈥檝e told institutions to do their own work,鈥� Trump said Tuesday.
After Monday鈥檚 sometimes fiery opening statements, Tuesday鈥檚 testimony was so plodding that Bender twice let out a long breath on the stand.
Trump plans to testify later in the trial, but he doesn鈥檛 have to attend it now. While grumbling that he鈥檇 rather be on the campaign trail, the Republican former president and has used the waiting cameras in a courthouse hallway as a . He claims that James, a Democrat, is wielding the justice system as a political cudgel to hobble his ongoing campaign.
James scored an early victory when Engoron, a Democrat, ruled last week that Trump by exaggerating the size of his penthouse at Trump Tower, claiming his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida was worth as much as $739 million and putting similar oversized valuations on office towers, golf courses and other assets.
The non-jury trial concerns six remaining claims in the lawsuit and how much Trump might owe in penalties. James is seeking $250 million and a ban on Trump doing business in New York. The judge has already ruled that some of Trump鈥檚 companies should be dissolved as punishment.
Trump鈥檚 lawyers said the financial statements were legitimate representations of the worth of unique luxury properties, made even more valuable because of their association with Trump.
The trial is expected to last into December.
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Michael R. Sisak, Bobby Caina Calvan And Jennifer Peltz, The Associated Press
