Trump can’t speak during closing arguments in NY civil fraud trial, judge says

In a letter to attorneys for Trump and New York Attorney General Letitia James just after noon Wednesday, Engoron said that Trump hasn’t agreed to conditions he set should the former president wish to give a statement.

“Not having heard from you by the third extended deadline (noon today), I assume that Mr. Trump will not agree to the reasonable, lawful limits I have imposed as a precondition to giving a closing statement above and beyond those given by his attorneys, and that, therefore, he will not be speaking in court tomorrow,” Engoron wrote.

The judge is shutting down the platform that Trump wants to use to continue to blame Biden, to claim the president is prosecuting him.

"“Allowing Mr. Trump to present closing argument will invite more speeches that will ‘unduly disrupt’ the proceedings,” Andrew Amer wrote in an email last Thursday."

Engoron offered Trump the opportunity to speak in his own defense closing argument but said the former president must agree to preset conditions that would limit what he can and cannot say. He would not be allowed to campaign, the judge said.

Engoron also said if Trump violated the gag order, he’d fine him and remove him from court.