On Wednesday, Donald Trump was fined $10,000 by a New York judge overseeing his civil fraud trial, as the former U.S. president was found to have violated a gag order for the second time.

Justice Arthur Engoron had previously, on October 3, prohibited Trump from making derogatory comments about court staff.

This action was prompted after Trump shared a photograph on social media featuring the judge’s chief clerk alongside U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, falsely suggesting she was Schumer’s “girlfriend,” Reuters reported.

During a break in the civil lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, which centers on Trump’s business practices, Trump told reporters on Wednesday, “This judge is a very partisan judge, with a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is.”

Justice Engoron, deducing that Trump was referring to his clerk, characterized these comments as a “blatant” breach of the gag order.

The fine was imposed after Trump briefly took the witness stand to field questions.

Written by staff