A New York state appeals court has lifted a temporary hold on a gag order imposed on former President Donald Trump, reinstating the order that came from a lower court judge in the civil case involving his Trump Organization properties.
The original gag order from Judge Arthur Engoron came about after Trump made baseless and incendiary claims on social media that Engoron and his court staff were biased against him. Engoron came to the conclusion that Trump’s remarks posed a potential danger to his staff, and ordered Trump to limit his criticisms to the actual facts of the case, not the people or staff involved in it.
“Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, not appropriate, and I will not tolerate them,” Engoron said in issuing the order last month.
Trump has been fined for breaking the order and for refusing to delete disparaging messages he posted online. His lawyers appealed the order last month, prompting the appellate court to place a temporary hold on it until they could decide on the matter.
On Thursday, the appellate court ruled that the order could go back into place.
“Upon reading and filing the papers with respect to the motion, and due deliberation having been had thereon, it is ordered that the motion is denied,” the court’s order reads. “The interim relief granted by order of a Justice of this Court, dated November 16, 2023, is hereby vacated.”
Trump has the power to appeal this latest order to the state Supreme Court. His posts on social media immediately after the order was issued seem to imply he will defy the order.
Within hours of the order’s reinstatement, Trump shared posts on Truth Social attacking Engoron and his wife, alleging that she is the owner of a social media account sharing anti-Trump content.
“This is the most unfair Trial in the History of New York, and I’ve had some pretty unfair Trials!” Trump said in one of the posts attacking Engoron’s wife, Dawn Engoron.
Dawn Engoron has stated that she isn’t the owner of the account Trump is alleging belongs to her.
“I do not have a Twitter account. This is not me. I have not posted any anti Trump messages,” she told Newsweek.
If Trump continues to attack the judge, his staff or his family on social media, he could be subject to more punishments from Engoron, the state judge has said. Such punishments could include monetary fines or even jail time, to prevent him from making further attacks that could put individuals in harm’s way or otherwise influence the case.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy