A New York state court judge has imposed a limited gag order on Donald Trump during the former president's civil fraud trial.

Judge Arthur Engoron also ordered Trump to delete a social media post that maligned a key court employee and warned of “serious sanctions” if any participant in the case smears a court employee again.

“Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, not appropriate, and I will not tolerate them,” Engoron said.

A few hours earlier, Trump had posted a photo on his Truth Social account of Engoron's principal law clerk, Allison Greenfield, posing with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer at a public event, and said it was disgraceful that Greenfield was working with Engoron on this case. In another attempt to frame the proceedings as a political attack, and not the result of a lengthy investigation into the former president's business affairs.

Chuck Schumer called the post “pathetic” and stated that he doesn't know Greenfield and has been photographed with thousands of his constituents.

Engoron Clarifies Time Limit Statement

Engoron also clarified that although he had suggested on Monday that testimony about Trump's 2011 financial statement might be beyond a 2014 time limit on the case, despite the protestation of Trump's attornies, he had already ruled that all the claims in the case were allowable under the statute of limitations. The trial was not “an opportunity to relitigate what I have already decided” and was inclined to give both sides leeway to connect older evidence to later claims in the lawsuit.

Once Trump's indiscretion had been dealt with, an attorney representing New York District Attorney Letitia James questioned former Trump accountant Donald Bender about the financial statements he created with figures provided by Trump's company in an attempt to establish the level of control that Trump and his associates had over the creation of fraudulent financial statements.

Trump's lawyers claim the financial statements were legitimate representations of the worth of Trump's luxury properties that were made even more valuable because of their association with the former president. The defense also asserts that since the statements included disclaimers stating that they weren't audited and that others “might reach different conclusions” about the value of Trump's assets, absolved him of any wrongdoing.

A position Judge Engoron dismissed last week as one that presented a “fantasy world” and had no basis in reality, as he ruled in favor of James's claim that Trump and his organization had routinely inflated the value of his properties and assets by a considerable order of magnitude, including his Penthouse in Trump Tower and Palm Beach estate, Mar-a-Largo to secure financing and favorable insurance terms.

Engoron said the size of the discrepancies regarding Trump Tower “can only be considered fraud” as part of a 35-page summary ruling that laid bare the extent of Trump's deceit.

Trump “Made a Mistake and We Didn't Catch It.”

Some years, Bender told prosecutors, the Trump Organization had failed to provide all the documents necessary to produce accurate statements, despite claiming in letters to the accounting firm that the organization had hadn't “knowingly withheld” any relevant data.

“They were not giving us all of the documents that we needed,” Bender added, “there were certain appraisals out there for a number of years that we had never seen.”

During cross-examination by Trump's defense lawyer, Jesus M. Suarez, Bender acknowledged that he had missed information about a change in the size of Trump's penthouse at Trump Tower.

Suarez told Bender that Trump was sitting through the trial and his company and employees were going through a lot personally because Bender “had missed it.”

However, Bender retorted that his firm “didn't screw it up” and that, in fact, “the Trump Organization made a mistake, and we didn't catch it.”.

Trump Plans To Testify in Fraud Trial

Though Trump plans to testify later at the trial, he is not required to be there, regardless of his grumbling that he would rather be on the campaign trail.

The trial aims to settle six remaining claims in James's lawsuit and the extent of any penalties Trump may be ordered to pay.

New York state is seeking $250 million in damages and that Trump should effectively be banned from doing business there.

Last week, Judge Engoron ruled that some of Trump's business licenses be rescinded and that an independent monitor to oversee Trump Organization operations in the state should be appointed.