The judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial fined the former president $10,000 on Wednesday, saying Trump violated a limited gag order barring personal attacks on court staffers.

The fine came after Trump was called to the witness stand to explain his comment outside the courtroom about “a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside” the judge in the case, Judge Arthur Engoron.

[I suspect that this will facilitate an appeal of the gag order. This is a civil case and there’s no jury to influence, so the gag order doesn’t make a lot of sense in the first place. Trump is clearly angering the judge who will decide the case and the penalties, which isn’t a smart idea, but that doesn’t merit an infringement on Trump’s right to criticize the process and the officials involved. — Ed]