A new court filing has revealed “hundreds of threatening, harassing, disparaging and antisemitic” threats made to Judge Arthur Engoron, who is currently presiding over the civil fraud trial of former President Donald Trump in New York and trying to get the gag order he imposed against Trump reinstated.
Trump already violated Engoron’s gag order twice, costing him $15,000. An appeals court paused the order last week, citing Trump’s “constitutional and statutory rights.” But the threats have caused serious security concerns for Engoron and his staff, especially his principal law clerk Allison Greenfield.
One voicemail, according to an affidavit filed by court officer Captain Charles Hollon, stated: “Trust me. Trust me when I say this. I will come for you. I don’t care. Ain’t nobody gonna stop me either.” Another said: “Resign now, you dirty, treasonous piece of trash snake. We are going to get you and anyone of you dirty, backstabbing, lying, cheating American. You are nothing but a bunch of communists. We are coming to remove you permanently.”
Hollon also wrote in his affidavit that Greenfield has been repeatedly doxed, resulting in, “on a daily basis, harassing, disparaging comments and antisemitic tropes. I have been informed by Ms. Greenfield that she has been receiving approximately 20-30 calls per day to her personal cell phone and approximately 30-50 messages per day.”
In asking for the gag order to be reinstated, attorney Lisa Evans said:
[I]t is unquestionable that the conduct engaged in by Petitioners [Trump and his legal team] — the deluge of the court’s chambers phone and the law clerk’s personal cell phone, personal emails and social media accounts with hundreds of threatening, harassing, disparaging and antisemitic messages — which threatens the safety of court staff is the type of countervailing interest being served that warrants the imposition of the limited gag orders imposed by the Court.
Evans further argued, “The First Amendment does not prohibit courts from limiting speech that threatens the safety of the court’s staff. Courts have broad discretion to control the conduct of litigants and attorneys in ongoing proceedings.”
Trump has continued to lambast Engoron, Greenfield, and New York Attorney General Letitia James on Truth Social, as recently as Thursday, calling Engoron a “Psycho” and Greenfield a “Politically Biased & Corrupt Campaign Finance Violator.”
