Judge Arthur Engoron was furious with Donald Trump on Tuesday after the former president invented a conspiracy about one of the judge's staffers and posted her photo online.
For the first time in Trump's many legal cases – and after several warnings – the judge in the New York fraud trial issued a gag order on the frontrunner for the GOP's presidential nomination. CNN legal reporter Erica Orden highlighted that the order applies to "all parties" in the case, which means Trump's sons are also under it.
The Daily Beast's Jose Pagliery explained, "Engoron is usually unassuming, warm, humorous. He turned ice-cold when he delivered Trump a final warning."
The Hill provided context, saying that Engoron “added that he warned counsel off the record about the former president’s comments yesterday, but the warning went unheeded.”
There has been speculation that Trump was seeking a gag order in the case so that he could claim that he was being silenced and his First Amendment rights were being violated. But in this case, it'll be difficult to make that argument when the gag order is so limited. It forbids "parties from posting ... about any member of my staff," Engoron said.
The Lincoln Project posted on social media that if Trump or anyone else in the case violates the gag order and posts an attack on his clerk or any other staffer, they could end up in jail for 30 days.
Legal analysts like former prosecutor Glenn Kirschner and former FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann, expressed relief that it happened, indicating Trump's bad behavior had gone on long enough.
"About time!" exclaimed Weissmann.
"FINALLY," wrote Kirschner in all-caps. "A judge has stepped up and restricted Donald Trump’s false, dangerous, poisonous speech and posts. I wish it hadn’t taken a despicable lie about a judge’s law clerk to finally inspire a 'gag order.'"
MSNBC's Katie Phang, host and legal analyst, said, "Mark my words: this is the first of many gag orders against Trump that will be issued by Justice Engoron in this case."
"Absolutely. Expect a gag order from Judge Chutkan as well after the October 16 hearing. (Yes, that hearing should be earlier and I do not know why it's not)," said former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega.
Former federal prosecutor Shan Wu said that Judge Engoron is a former New York City cabbie. "If Trump were a true New Yorker, he would know that you don't mess with an NYC cabbie. Trump should heed the gag order just issued against him for doxxing the judge's law clerk."
He also provided a gif to illustrate his point.
Author Tomi Ahonen took the order literally, posting a photoshopped image of Trump in court wearing an actual gag.
