Judge threatens to hold Trump in contempt in fraud trial over deleted post

The judge in former President Trump’s New York civil fraud trial threatened to hold him in contempt Friday over a deleted Truth Social post.

The post, aimed at a court staffer, was deleted by Trump in the wake of an order by Judge Arthur Engoron. Trump’s campaign copied the former president’s message in an email sent to about 28,000 recipients on its media list, and the email was archived on his campaign website, where Trump lawyer Christopher Kise said it could be found for weeks, according to The Associated Press.

Engoron called the post remaining on the website a “blatant violation” of his order and fined Trump $5,000. The former president wasn’t in court Friday after attending Tuesday and Wednesday.

Kise placed the fault of the post remaining on the website on the “very large machine” of Trump’s campaign for president, according to the AP.

“I’ll take this under advisement,” Engoron said after Kise spoke about how Trump’s post remained online, according to the AP. “But I want to be clear that Donald Trump is still responsible for the large machine even if it’s a large machine.”

If Trump is held in contempt, it would only add to the pile of legal troubles the former president is dealing with at the moment. Beyond the civil fraud trial, he has now been indicted in four other cases in New York, Georgia and at the federal level. 

Trump has also directed his verbal fire at people involved in the other cases, including District Judge Tanya Chutkan, special counsel Jack Smith and Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis (D). 

The Associated Press contributed. Updated at 8:48 pm.