New York Safety Officer Calls for Reinstatement of Gag Order After Receiving Threats

A New York court public safety officer argued Wednesday in a filing that the paused gag order on former President Donald Trump should be reinstated in his civil fraud trial.

Charles Hollon claimed that the case’s presiding judge, Arthur Engoron of the New York Supreme Court, has faced “credible” threats to his safety throughout and before the trial.

Hollon also highlighted threats against Engoron’s principal law clerk, Allison Greenfield, which prompted state officials to work with federal investigators in establishing security protocols.

While Hollon circled the string of threats back to social media posts by Trump on his platform Truth Social leading up to and during the trial, the safety officer stopped short of implicating him directly.

One Trump post publicly identified Greenfield and suggested she was in a relationship with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

It was that post which initially prompted Engoron to issue the limited gag order in October.

Trump’s comments “made in his post resulted in hundreds of threatening and harassing voicemail messages that have been transcribed into over 275 single spaced pages,” Hollon wrote.

Greenfield’s “personal information, including her personal cellphone number and personal email addresses also have been compromised resulting in daily doxxing,” he continued. “She has been subjected to, on a daily basis, harassing, disparaging comments and antisemitic tropes.”

A state appeals court temporarily lifted Engoron’s gag order on Trump last week, and it will remain in effect until at least Nov. 27, when Trump’s last filing is due and the court is free to decide on the matter.

The case in New York, brought by state Attorney General Letitia James, surrounds an accusation that Trump and his namesake company exaggerated his property’s values to lenders and tax officials.

Engoron issued a summary judgment in September, concluding that Trump did engage in financial fraud, stripping him of state business licenses.

The current trial will address six additional claims and the final penalty.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.