Trump Risks New Gag Order Violation With Fresh “Sleazeballs” Tirade

Donald Trump simply can’t help himself from taking a solid jab at the partial gag order he’s under in his New York hush-money trial. The court-imposed gag order prevents him from speaking publicly about courtroom staff, prosecutors, jurors, witnesses, or their family members—but according to Trump, not having the opportunity to openly insult them is thoroughly “unfair.”

“It is a really bad feeling to have your Constitutional Right to Free Speech, such a big part of life in our Country, so unfairly taken from you, especially when all of the sleazebags, lowlifes, and grifters that you oppose are allowed to say absolutely anything that they want,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday morning, during his only break from the courtroom this week.

“It is hard to sit back and listen to lies and false statements be made against you knowing that if you respond, even in the most modest fashion, you are told by a Corrupt and Highly Conflicted Judge that you will be PUT IN PRISON, maybe for a long period of time,” he continued. “This Fascist mindset is all coming from D.C. It is a sophisticated hit job on Crooked Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME!”

Trump then went on to attack Judge Arthur Engoron and Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw two of his prior civil trials, including the New York bank fraud trial in which Trump had to cough up $15,000 for violating a similar gag order.

“Judges Engoron and Kaplan, also of New York, are equally Corrupt, only in different ways,” Trump wrote, attempting to tie court cases in which he, a former real estate mogul, reality TV star, and indicted former president, was tried for his own misconduct, to the liberties of the average American. “What these THUGS are doing is AN ATTACK ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, AND OUR ONCE GREAT NATION ITSELF. OUR FIRST AMENDMENT MUST STAND, FREE AND STRONG. ‘GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!’”

Donald Trump’s big mouth in the hush-money trial has so far cost him $10,000* and earned him a formal warning about the possibility of jail time if he continues to violate the gag. In the days since Trump was last formally warned, he has come pretty close to breaching the order—including deleting a post about Stormy Daniels moments before she was set to take the stand. It remains to be seen if his latest post—which seems to lambast witnesses in the case as “sleazebags” and “lowlifes”—will constitute another violation.

Trump is accused of using Cohen to sweep an affair with porn actress Stormy Daniels under the rug ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The Republican presidential nominee faces 34 felony charges in this case for allegedly falsifying business records with the intent to further an underlying crime. Trump has pleaded not guilty on all counts.

*This article originally misstated the amount Trump has been fined for violating the gag order.