The recent spate of fabrications from former US president Donald Trump continues in NY fraud trial. On November 30, the First Judicial Department reinstated Justice Arthur Engoron’s gag order which had temporarily forbidden Trump and his attorneys from attacking the judge’s principal law clerk. Riding on resourcefulness, however, Trump shifted his attack to the judge’s family, including both his wife and son.
Reports suggest that Trump sourced false allegations from controversial figure and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer. The allegations insinuated that an anti-Trump Twitter account was operated by Mrs. Engoron and a man spotted in the courtroom during the trial was the judge’s son, a supposed attorney in New York.
Courtside, representations dismissed the attacks against Mrs. Engoron, clarifying that Justice Engoron’s wife was not behind the social media posts and did not own the referenced Twitter account.
The drama unfolded further when Trump recirculated the allegations about the judge’s family. However, the identity of the supposed son was confirmed to be Ben Kochman, a New York Post reporter who was present in the courtroom for trial coverage. Kochman dispelled the false claims in his own elaborate piece on the NY Post.
The persistence of these false claims, even after multiple clarifications, lends a concerning dimension to the behavior of the former president. This mirrors previous behavior where Trump maintained the narrative of election fraud despite extensive evidence to the contrary. As it stands, many of the false posts about the identity of Kochman as the judge’s son remain live on Truth Social despite the clear debunking by the Post reporter.
Yet, even amidst these continuous misinformation campaigns, the story also brings to light the resilience of journalists like Ben Kochman, tirelessly guarding the truth.