Courts

The Far Right Is Straight Up (With A Twist) Lying About The Judge In The Trump Fraud Case

It's very obviously water, people.

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Water Pitcher and GlassI’ve worked at Above the Law long enough not to be too surprised when judges do awful things. Popular culture may love the “sober as a judge” narrative, but that stereotype doesn’t hold for every judge. Maybe it’s waving guns or sexual harassment or texting during a trial or handcuffing literal children, but not every judge is on their best behavior. But even having extensive knowledge of all this, my bullshit meter was on high alert when the far right started sharing conspiracy theories that speculated that New York Judge Arthur Engoron was drinking gin on the bench.

Judge Engoron is presiding over the civil trial against former president Donald Trump, the Trump organization, and his adult sons. It’s already not looking like it’s going great for him, and the corporate “death penalty” is on the table. As is his wont, Trump has responded to the legal setbacks in this case with social media screeds, often directed at Judge Engoron.

So, maybe it isn’t shocking Trump supporters are lashing out at Judge Engoron, but the latest attack is just a head scratcher. Video clips of the judge drinking a beverage during the trial are circulating online with the assertion Engoron is drinking gin, specifically Tanqueray gin directly from the bottle. This is 100%, certifiably untrue. The green bottle in question — as confirmed by New York State court spokesperson Lucian Chalfen, because we had to get an official statement on this nonsense — is Mountain Valley water, not Tanqueray gin. And honestly, I question the eyesight (amongst other things) of those circulating the falsehood. Because, both bottles are green, I’ll give them that, but otherwise they’re not particularly similar.

 

Mountain Valley Spring Water tangueray-gin

A Mountain Valley spokesperson confirmed the judge appeared to be drinking from an older vintage glass bottle, which only looks LESS like Tanqueray.
mountaig valley vintage

It’s also wild to think anyone honestly thinks a judge is drinking DIRECTLY FROM THE BOTTLE of alcohol during open court. If a judge were honestly drinking on the job they’d likely put a modicum of subterfuge into the effort — something that would be ridiculously easy with a clear spirit like gin. But somehow I don’t think logic is a strong suit for those sharing this blatant falsehood.

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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