Trump snarls about $10k fine — and compares trial to 'Petty Mason' TV drama
Donald Trump snarled Thursday after being hit with a fine for violating the gag order set by Judge Arthur Engoron in the New York fraud case.
He started his morning with another rant against the judge, saying in a rambling social media post that Engoron "fined me $10,000 yesterday under his so-called gag order."
The gag order he references prohibits him from attacking the staff of the judge.
"He is a judge that found me GUILTY before the trial even started," complained Trump. "And long before he had the real facts, like Michael Cohen collapsing and choking yesterday under cross examination (sic), and completely admitting that I did nothing wrong."
Cohen's testimony didn't claim that Trump "did nothing wrong."
According to Trump, he won his fraud case already because his lawyers were able to get his ex-fixer Cohen to admit he lied to a judge when he pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 2018. Trump's lawyers then asked to dismiss the case based on Cohen's 2018 plea, which was swiftly denied.
Cohen's two-day questioning wasn't the only part of the trial. Several people who worked with the Trump Org., including those from the banks or insurers, gave testimony before Cohen
"He committed MASSIVE PERJURY, at a level seldom seen on the stand before," wrote Trump.
In a post Wednesday night, Trump had characterized Cohen as the "star" witness who "lied like a dog on the stand."
Cohen has spent the past several years telling the same story. According to him, he was forced to plead guilty to tax charges in a deal with prosecutors; otherwise, he and his wife would be indicted. Cohen maintains his wife has never been involved and was scared she'd be harmed. He has been seeking documents about the ordeal from the Justice Department for the past several years.
The 77-year-old ex-president went on to say that it felt like "the best Petty Mason episode," presumably meaning Perry Mason, an television show that spanned the late 1950s into the 1960s.
Indeed, his lawyers were very dramatic over the past several days, with loud objections and outbursts in court.
Trump followed the comments with another racist tirade against Attorney General Letitia James.
See the post in the screen capture below or at the link here.