Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron on Thursday released a written order detailing why he determined Donald Trump’s Wednesday sworn testimony denying that he attacked a court clerk “rings hollow and untrue” after he fined the former president $10,000 for his second violation of a partial gag order meant to protect courtroom staff.

The former president had claimed on the witness stand that he had been referring to his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen as the “partisan” sitting “alongside” Engoron when he spoke to reporters outside the courtroom on Wednesday. But the judge was unconvinced, deeming that excuse “not credible.”

“Witnesses do not sit ‘alongside’ the judge, they sit in the witness box, separated from the judge by a low wooden barrier,” Engoron wrote in the order, obtained by The Messenger. “Further, Donald Trump’s past public statements demonstrate him referring to Michael Cohen directly by his name, or by a derogatory name, but in all circumstances, he is unambiguous in making it known he is referring to Michael Cohen.”

He added: “Using imprecise language as an excuse to create plausible ambiguity about whether defendant violated this Court’s unequivocal gag order is not a defense; the subject of Donald Trump’s public statement to the press was unmistakably clear.”

  • TransplantedSconie@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Calling it now.

    Trump Tower will be renamed: The Barack Hussain Obama Center for Multicultural and Gender Studies

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Honestly. If I had the disposable income… I’d buy Trump Tower, and branding rights to “trump”… and then, like turn the tower into a homeless shelter.

      • TechyDad@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Apparently, Trump’s naming rights are tied up in the Trump Org that’s likely to be disbanded and sold off thanks to this case. So his own name could be sold to someone else to use. I’m really hoping some progressive group buys it just to open “Trump LGBTQ Safe Spaces.” Though, at the same time, I don’t think his name would make many feel “safe.” So maybe “Trump Waste Removal Company”? Their slogan could be “We Know How To Deal With Massive Amounts of Garbage.”

        • n0m4n@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I think that a halfway house for inmates transitioning to being free would be good. The MAGA seditionists can transition to the free world again, and see how Trump lived when he grifted them.

    • calabast@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I mean, I’d prefer “The Barack Hussain Obama Center for Children Who Can’t Read Good and Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too” but I’ll take anything at this point.