Judge Arthur Engoron, who handed down a $355 million ruling against former President Donald Trump in his civil fraud trial, was sent an envelope containing white powder on Wednesday, causing an emergency response at his New York City courthouse, a source with direct knowledge of the incident confirmed to NBC News.
The judge and his staff were not exposed to the substance — his mail is pre-screened on a daily basis and was intercepted before it reached him, the source said. A court officer opened the letter and powder fell out, according to the New York Police Department, exposing the officer and another court employee to the substance, the source said. The New York City Fire Department said the two refused any medical treatment. The threatening letter was first reported by ABC News.
The threat is far from the first against the judge. Police on Long Island responded to a bomb threat at his home last month, hours before closing arguments in the Trump trial were scheduled to begin.
After the trial started last year, officials said in a court filing that the judge and his law clerk had been hit with a “deluge” of threats after Trump repeatedly criticized them on social media, including many that law enforcement deemed to be “credible.”
Those threats prompted court officials to work with “the FBI and Homeland Security to devise the appropriate security measures that would be implemented in order to protect the judge, his chambers staff, and those closely associated around him, including his family,” a filing in the case said.
Trump’s attorneys have said he’s not responsible for the actions of his supporters.
The judge ruled Trump and his company should pay over $350 million in the case earlier this month, an amount that swelled to over $464 million with pre-judgment interest.
Envelopes with powdery substances were previously sent to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office is prosecuting Trump on charges of falsifying business records.
Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., was sent an envelope containing a death threat and white powder at his home in Florida on Monday.
Brittany Kubicko contributed.