A judge has fined former President Donald Trump $10,000 for violating a gag order, the Associated Press reports. 

Judge Arthur Engoron did so after making Trump take the witness stand and answer questions.

This all took place last week in the civil fraud trial that New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) has brought against Trump. James accuses Trump of having committed fraud by overvaluing his assets on financial documents, an accusation which Trump has denied.

Engoron, who has been accused of being a Democratic operative, has already found Trump guilty of fraud. Now, a juryless trial is taking place to determine the penalty.

The gag order and the alleged violation

The reader may remember that, at one point, Trump targeted Engoron's chief legal clerk, Alison Greenfield. If not, this should jog your memory:

While in court, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social attacking Judge Engoron’s clerk, calling her “Shumer’s girlfriend” and linking to her Instagram account.

Still no gag order. pic.twitter.com/xIHDmEdtrw

— Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) October 3, 2023

Engoron responded by imposing a gag order on Trump, barring the former president from making any public comments about members of his staff, including Greenfield.

Recently, however, Trump decided to test the limits of this gag order.

The former president did so by telling a reporter that Engoron is a "very partisan judge with a person who is very partisan sitting alongside him, perhaps even more partisan than he is."

Trump takes the witness stand, and the $10,000 fine

After Trump's remark, Engoron forced the former president to take the witness stand and answer questions about it.

During questioning, Trump did not back down. He told Engoron that he believes that Greenfield is "very biased against us."

When the questioning was finished, Engoron allowed Trump to return to the defense table. And, then, Engoron hit Trump with a $10,000 fine for violating his gag order.

Trump, since then, has released numerous social media statements slamming Engoron, James, and the case James has brought against him.

Trump, in one statement, also responded to the $10,000 fine, writing:

The Radical Left Judge who should not be handling the FAKE & FULLY DISCREDITED CASE brought against me by the New York State A.G. (It should be handled by the Commercial Division, but should never have been brought!), fined me $10,000 yesterday under his so-called gag order. He is a judge that found me GUILTY before the trial even started, and long before he had the real facts, like Michael Cohen collapsing and choking yesterday under cross examination, and completely admitting that I did nothing wrong. He committed MASSIVE PERJURY, at a level seldom seen on the stand before. It was like watching the end of the best Petty Mason episode, where the defendant breaks down and cries, “Yes, I did it, I did it, I did it.” This case should be ended, NOW, but this Judge and his “boss,” Letitia Peekaboo James, will never let that happen. He even refuses to accept our big win in the Appeals Court. It is a disgrace to the legal system in the State of New York. This is a RIGGED CASE!