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Trials & Litigation
Judge extends gag order to lawyers in one Trump case while appeals court issues stay in another
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Gag orders imposed against former President Donald Trump in two cases are back in the news.
In the civil Fraud case against Trump, a New York judge on Friday extended his gag order covering the parties to the attorneys in the case.
Judge Arthur Engoron issued a supplemental order on Friday that bans lawyers from making any public statements, in or out of court, that refer to any confidential statements between him and his staff members. Law360 and Reuters have coverage.
Engoron said he issued the order after Trump lawyers Christopher Kise and Alina Habba made repeated on-the-record remarks alleging bias by the judge’s principal law clerk. The lawyers also commented on notes passed between the judge and the clerk, alleging they created an “appearance of impropriety.”
Engoron said his law clerks provide legal authority and opinions and respond to questions he poses. “I will continue to consult with my staff, as is my unfettered right,” Engoron wrote in the order.
Engoron had initially ordered Trump and the parties to refrain from commenting on his staff members after the former president alleged on Truth Social that the clerk was politically biased and was “running this case against me.” Engoron has twice fined Trump—first $5,000 and then $10,000—for violations of the gag order.
In the second case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday temporarily paused a gag order issued by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan of Washington, D.C., in the federal election interference case. Chutkan’s gag order had prevented Trump from attacking witnesses, prosecutors and court staff members.
The appeals court administratively stayed the gag order while it considers Trump’s request for a stay pending appeal, report Law360 and the Volokh Conspiracy. Trump is arguing the gag order violates his First Amendment rights, the Washington Post reports.
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