Trump on a 'Slippery Slope' Amid Gag Order: Legal Analyst

Donald Trump's continued derogatory remarks about New York Judge Arthur Engoron and his staff could lead the former president down a legal "slippery slope," according to attorney Norm Eisen.

On Tuesday, just before lunch, Trump posted a photo of one of Engoron's clerks, attorney Allison Greenfield, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The now-deleted Truth Social post alleged that the pair are romantically involved and that this is further reason for his New York state civil fraud case to be dismissed.

Engoron is presiding over the $250 million fraud trial resulting from New York Attorney General Letitia James' investigation into the former president, his adult sons and the Trump Organization. On Tuesday, the judge imposed a gag order on Trump and his legal team, barring them from publicly discussing his staff members.

"Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable and inappropriate, and I won't tolerate it," Engoron said. "Consider this statement a gag order forbidding all parties from posting, emailing or speaking publicly about any of my staff."

Eisen, a former White House ethics czar who was counsel to the Democrats in Trump's first impeachment and is now a CNN legal analyst, said on the network this week that a first-time breaking of Engoron's gag order would likely result in some financial sanction.

"But there is a slippery slope, and in particular hitting that nerve—the judge's staff, someone he works with every day, exposed to danger. That could also include, in the extreme case, confinement under New York law," Eisen said.

New York–based attorney Andrew Lieb told Newsweek that there exists "a significant likelihood" that Trump could face jail time of up to 30 days if he violates the gag order.

"To be clear, the order is limited to statements about the judge's staff, so Trump is free to say a lot about the case in general," Lieb said. "That said, Trump hates being told no and so we expect him to test the judge's order. And this judge does not seem to be interested in playing games when it comes to his staff."

Trump tested that theory on Wednesday morning, criticizing the case shortly after arriving at the courthouse for the trial's third day.

"Just arrived at the Witch Hunt Trial taking place in the very badly failing (so sadly!) State of New York, where people and companies are fleeing by the thousands," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Corrupt Attorney General, Letitia James, is a big reason for this. Statute 63(12) is meant to be used for Consumer Fraud.

He went on: "It has never been used before on a 'case' such as this, especially since I did absolutely nothing wrong. I borrowed money, paid it back, in full, and got sued, years later, with a trial RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF MY CAMPAIGN. I am not even entitled, under any circumstances, to a JURY. This Witch Hunt cannot be allowed to continue. It is Election Interference and the start of Communism right here in America!"

Attorney Bradley Moss wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that Trump's griping about the case is allowed by law and does not break the provisions of the gag order. Moss also "guaranteed" that Trump's legal counsel reviewed his latest post before publishing so it wasn't in violation.

Newsweek reached out to Moss via email for further comment.

"Trump and all defendants have every right to criticize the government and the use of the prosecution power in ways that does not invite intimidation, harassment, or violence," Georgia State University law professor Anthony Kreis wrote on X.

Kreis declined to comment further to Newsweek.

Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner praised Engoron for defending his staff and encouraged judges in other Trump criminal cases to follow suit.

"It took this kind of a threat to a law clerk and a very appropriately protective judge to snap into action to protect that clerk and to protect all of the judge's staff," Kirschner said on his Justice Matters podcast.

"How about judges step up and protect all of the witnesses and prosecutors and jurors and others...who Donald Trump continues to endanger with his reckless speech, with his dangerous posts, because he's been able to do it with complete impunity thus far," Kirschner said.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over Trump's federal case involving attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, has warned Trump and his lawyers about how "inflammatory" public statements could lead to a speedy trial next year.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing Trump's classified documents case in Florida, issued not a gag but a protective order, in which strict standards have been set for where Trump and his legal team can review and discuss the documents. They were barred from using Mar-a-Lago, Trump's resort, as a meeting place.