NEW YORK (AP) — Allison Greenfield, the law clerk whom Donald Trump assailed with falsehoods during his civil fraud trial last year, has been elected as a New York City judge.
Greenfield, 38, was one of six candidates for six seats on Manhattan’s civil court, which handles small claims and other lesser-stakes lawsuits. A local Democratic committee unanimously endorsed her candidacy in February, avoiding a primary and clearing the way for her to run unopposed in Tuesday’s general election.
As a principal law clerk to Judge Arthur Engoron, Greenfield was a frequent target of Trump and his lawyers during the former president’s civil fraud trial.
Trump made a disparaging social media post about Greenfield on the trial’s second day, leading Engoron to impose a limited gag order barring participants in the case from smearing court staff.
Engoron fined Trump $15,000 for twice violating the order and subsequently expanded it to include Trump’s lawyers after they complained in court about Greenfield passing notes to Engoron.
They accused Engoron of letting Greenfield act as “a de facto co-judge,” and questioned whether her political leanings were influencing what they perceived as a “demonstrable” anti-Trump bias.
Trump lawyer Christopher Kise said he felt like he was “fighting two adversaries.” Engoron responded that he had “an absolutely unfettered right” to Greenfield's advice.
Trump’s lawyers later asked for a mistrial, which Engoron rejected, after conservative news site Breitbart News highlighted a citizen complaint that accused Greenfield of violating court rules by making monetary donations to Democratic causes. Many of those contributions were made during Greenfield’s prior, unsuccessful run for the bench in 2022.
Election to the civil court can be a pathway for judges to eventually join New York’s main trial court, known as the State Supreme Court. Engoron joined the bench as a civil court judge and was appointed to the trial court a decade later.
Greenfield studied economics and politics as an undergraduate at New York University and received her law degree from Cardozo School of Law in Manhattan in 2010. She started working for Engoron in 2019. Before that, she was a lawyer for the city.
FILE - Judge Arthur Engoron, right, and principal law clerk Allison Greenfield sit on the bench during Donald Trump's civil business fraud trial at New York Supreme Court, Oct. 17, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool, File)
