On Thursday (November 30), a New York court put back a gag order that forbids former US president Donald Trump from making public comments about court staff in the civil fraud case.

A New York appeals court reimposed the gag order that effectively asked Trump to refrain from attacking court staff. This has exposed Trump to steep penalties that will be levied if he violates the order a third time.

On October 3, Justice Arthur Engoron issued a gag order on Trump, after he accused a senior court clerk of being politically biased on his Truth Social platform. The court received many threats from Trump’s supporters following his accusation. The gag order stopped Trump from making public statements about court staff in the civil fraud case. However, an appeals court judge lifted the gag order temporarily on November 16.

In the civil fraud case, Trump has been accused by New York Attorney General Letitia James of inflating his assets by billions of dollars to get soft loans and favourable insurance terms.

Trump has pleaded not guilty, denying any wrongdoing. He has accused James, who is an elected Democrat, of having political bias against him.

The gag order was earlier paused when Trump’s lawyers filed an appeal saying that the order infringed upon Trump’s right to free speech under the United States Constitution. The order has now again been imposed.