‘Control Him If You Can’: Judge Threatens to Eject Trump From Witness Stand

Judge Arthur Engoron warned Donald Trump’s lawyer of potential consequences over the former president’s conduct in answering questions Monday.

Former President Donald Trump continued to demonstrate disdain for the judge and staff presiding over his New York civil fraud trial, with the judge threatening to remove Trump from the witness stand for uncooperative behavior on Monday.

The conflict arose during questioning of the former president. Trump was accused of providing long, rambling answers to the prosecution’s inquiries, failing to answer questions and instead using the opportunity to attack prosecutors and pursue unrelated tangents.

“Mr. Kise, can you control your client?” asked Judge Engoron to Trump’s lawyer Christopher Kise at one point. “This is not a political rally. This is a courtroom.”

“I beseech you to control him if you can… If you can’t, I will. I will excuse him and draw every negative inference that I can.”

Trump has expressed contempt for New York state’s legal process against him since the trial began last month. He’s accused New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, of conducting a “political witch hunt” in a trial that sees the former president accused of massively inflating the value of his properties to secure loans and benefits.

Last month, Judge Engoron imposed a gag order on Trump after he attacked one of his clerks on social media. Engoron expressed concern that the post on Trump’s Truth Social platform, which included a photo of the clerk, may subject them to violent reprisal.

Trump’s rhetoric Monday continued to target Judge Engoron specifically, someone the former president in the past has called a “Trump hater” and “rogue judge.”

“I'm sure the judge [Engoron] will rule against me because he always rules against me,” said Trump of the judge during one exchange.

“You can attack me, you can do whatever you want, but answer the question,” instructed Engoron in response.

Current polling shows Americans’ approval of the former president stands at around 41% while President Biden’s approval rating has slipped to 37%, meaning the United States is headed toward another presidential election with two unpopular major party candidates. Meanwhile, approval of the US Congress stands at around 17%.