Judge Arthur Engoron, who previously handed Trump a gag order for attacking a court clerk on social media, ordered the former president to quiet down after he expressed frustration and interrupted real estate appraiser Doug Larson’s testimony by speaking loudly to his legal team.
New York State lawyer Kevin Wallace had complained to Engoron, saying that Trump’s “exhortations” were distracting to those on the witness’ side of the room, the Associated Press reported.
A few hours later, a reporter for Law 360 reported that an unnamed woman had “walked up to the front of the [public] gallery, approaching ‘the well’ where Trump was seated.” She was immediately confronted by law enforcement, who told her to return to her seat then later led her out of the courtroom.
In a statement to The Independent, a spokesperson for New York State courts said the woman was a court employee who had since been placed on administrative leave. She was “yelling out to Mr. Trump indicating she wanted to assist him,” the spokesperson said.
That’s a planned circus. I bet he wants to be held in contempt, I bet there’s a ploy there. And I bet the judge knows it, sees through it and is biding back, because of it.