2026年6月17日 / 美国东部时间上午9:33 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
作者：格雷厄姆·凯茨 记者
格雷厄姆·凯茨是哥伦比亚广播公司新闻数字部负责刑事司法、隐私问题和信息安全的调查记者。可通过KatesG@cbsnews.com或grahamkates@protonmail.com联系格雷厄姆。
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2024年1月11日清晨天还未亮，纽约州最高法院法官阿瑟·恩戈隆正在遛狗，这时他看到远处有警灯，而且数量不少。他意识到警察正朝自己的住宅赶来。
“你的住所收到了可信的炸弹威胁，屋里还有其他人吗？”恩戈隆回忆一名警佐当时这样问道。
他回答说有，妻子和孩子们都在屋里。他叫醒了家人，一家人在冬日的寒风中离开了家。
几个小时后，恩戈隆已经坐在自己的法庭上，站在被告席前的是美国历史上最知名、最有权势的被告——唐纳德·特朗普。这场充满戏剧性的民事欺诈庭审以近乎每日的激烈争吵、成百上千次反对意见和竞选闹剧收场，这位前总统违背了法官的指示，自行发表了结案陈词。
现已退休的恩戈隆接受了哥伦比亚广播公司新闻的采访，这是他自2023年庭审以来首次出镜采访，他回顾了自己的职业生涯以及在聚光灯下的起起落落。他认为，从那场庭审到如今公众围绕法官展开的激烈公开讨论，二者之间存在关联。正是这种环境促使美国 Marshals 服务局最近要求国会增加联邦司法安保经费，理由是威胁有所增加。
“我认为有些人会更不愿意担任法官，因为威胁程度明显上升了，”恩戈隆说，“不过，这些人恐怕本就不该做法官。”
清晨的炸弹威胁既不是恩戈隆收到的第一起，也不是最后一起威胁。他告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，自己遭到了一连串反犹太主义和恐同的辱骂，还收到过装有白色粉末的信封。恩戈隆表示，他至今仍会收到骚扰电话，还提到最近有一名男子在他健身的健身房走近他，骂他“该死的垃圾”。
“法官们都知道首要原则：我们不能反击，”恩戈隆说，“这就是分内之事。不管别人怎么骂我们，都一样。”
这位行事古怪、爱开玩笑的法官确实让特朗普先生十分恼火。被告经常直接走到法庭外，抨击这起案件和恩戈隆。他和他的支持者称这位法官是“疯子”“精神失常者”“精神错乱”“腐败”“激进”以及其他贬损性称呼。
这位法官从未回应，但他划下了红线，而特朗普先生却突破了这条红线：针对法官的工作人员。
恩戈隆说，在特朗普多次发帖并谈论法官的法律助理后，不得不由法庭法警护送这位助理往返家中。
“我有时会说，法律助理是世界历史上最伟大的发明。他们只是来帮忙的……我们想要保护他们，因为他们不像我们一样能很好地保护自己，”恩戈隆说。他补充道，“当然，这并没有影响我的裁决，也没有影响我对这起案件的看法。”
恩戈隆对特朗普下达了禁言令，这一禁令后来在特朗普的两起刑事案件中被效仿。这位现年77岁的法官已于去年年底达到法定退休年龄，他透露自己此前从未需要禁止被告针对自己的工作人员。
特朗普案让恩戈隆拥有了此前从未有过、之后也再未出现的声望，他很享受这种认可。
“就在昨晚，有人说，‘你曾有一段时间是美国最知名的法官’，”恩戈隆说。
“素不相识的人会走上前来，非常真诚、严肃地看着我说‘谢谢’。他们就只说这两个字。我明白他们在说什么，”恩戈隆说道，他回忆起自己在长岛铁路公司被检票员认出，甚至还被最高法院索尼娅·索托马约尔大法官认出过。
恩戈隆现在是曼哈顿律师事务所Phillips Nizer LLP的高级顾问，但他怀念敲法槌的日子。
“做法官是世界上最棒的工作。你可以帮助社会，你可以确立先例，你会得到所有人的尊重，”恩戈隆说，“以前人们会说‘法官大人’时，我会环顾四周，心想‘他们在跟谁说话？’然后才反应过来是在跟我说话。”
在特朗普庭审期间，恩戈隆遭到了特朗普盟友的批评，他们声称他讨好媒体。纽约州众议员伊莉斯·斯特凡尼克在给该州司法行为委员会的一封信中称，恩戈隆“臭名昭著地对着镜头微笑、摆姿势拍照”。有一天，他在法庭上指导记者如何正确发音自己的姓氏（En-GOR-on，而非EN-gur-on）。还有一天，他表示希望记者注意到他“快步”走上法庭台阶。
他说，这些批评“很愚蠢”。
“这和庭审毫无关系。我快步走上法庭台阶是因为有很多人在等着，我想我当时是表现得有点热情。他们怎么说来着？‘耍帅’，”恩戈隆说。
当时耍帅的可不止他一个。特朗普的团队尤其擅长长篇大论和激烈抨击，而这位法官很少打断他们。
恩戈隆说，他“以允许人们畅所欲言、能让我获取更多信息而闻名”。
从法官的角度来看，这么做有其战略考量。
“这样一来，我被推翻裁决的可能性就更小了，因为法官会因排除证据而被推翻裁决。而且他们也会明白，我考虑了所有因素。他们在法庭上得到了申辩的机会，”恩戈隆说，“我的工作人员有时会说，‘得了吧，法官，我们得继续了。’不行，他们想讲多久就讲多久。”
恩戈隆在管理法庭时随性而为的风格，与他撰写意见时专注、尖锐且严肃的态度形成了鲜明对比，他在庭审证据的书面意见中写道：“在此发现的欺诈行为跃然纸上，令人震惊。”
“我希望这些意见严肃直白。我不想被批评对待案件不认真。我只是想基于事实和法律做出裁决，”恩戈隆说。
早在庭审开始前，恩戈隆就认定特朗普及其公司以及包括小唐纳德·特朗普和埃里克·特朗普在内的几名高管存在欺诈行为。庭审结束后，他判处他们约3.5亿美元的罚款，加上利息后总额增至5亿多美元。去年，上诉法院撤销了这项经济处罚，但保留了欺诈认定的裁决。双方都提起了进一步上诉。特朗普先生于4月向州最高法院请求彻底驳回此案，而詹姆斯的办公室则希望恢复经济处罚。
恩戈隆一直在密切关注此案，但他并不担心上诉结果会影响自己的legacy。
“我有过高光时刻。我努力做了正确的事。我在做出裁决时尽力做到了公平公正。你不必细数裁决次数，但归根结底，我认为如果量化的话，我对双方的裁决大致是持平的，”恩戈隆说，“所以这总体上是积极的。我很高兴能参与其中。”
“The most famous judge in America, for a while,” on highs and lows of a Trump trial
June 17, 2026 / 9:33 AM EDT / CBS News
By Graham Kates Reporter
Graham Kates is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice, privacy issues and information security for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at KatesG@cbsnews.com or grahamkates@protonmail.com
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Justice Arthur Engoron was walking his dog in the early morning darkness on Jan. 11, 2024, when he saw police lights in the distance, a lot of them. The New York Supreme Court judge realized they were descending on his home.
“There’s been a credible bomb threat against your house. Is there anybody else in the house?” Engoron recalled a police lieutenant asking.
Yes, he replied, his wife and kids. He roused them. They walked away from the house in the cold winter air.
A few hours later, Engoron was in his courtroom, on the bench in front of the most famous and powerful defendant in U.S. history — Donald Trump. In a fitting finale to what had been a dramatic civil fraud trial, marked by near-daily shouting, hundreds upon hundreds of objections, and campaign antics, then-former President Trump went against the judge’s instructions to deliver his own closing argument.
Now retired, Engoron sat down with CBS News for his first on-camera interview since the 2023 trial, reflecting on his career and the highs and lows of his moment in the spotlight. He sees a thread from that trial to the wider, harsh public discourse around judges today. It’s an environment that led the U.S. Marshals Service recently to ask Congress for increased funds for federal judicial security, citing increased threats.
“I think that there will be some people that will be less inclined to become judges because the threat level has apparently increased,” Engoron said. “Those are probably not the people that should be judges, though.”
The early morning bomb threat was neither the first nor last threat Engoron received. He told CBS News he was subjected to a cascade of antisemitic and homophobic taunts, and sent an envelope with white powder. Engoron said he still gets harassing phone calls, and recounted a man walking up to him recently at his gym and calling him “a f—ing piece of s–t.”
“Judges would know the primary rule: We cannot fight back,” Engoron said. “That just goes with the territory. No matter what we’re called.”
Arthur Engoron, the former judge who presided over President Trump’s New York civil fraud trial. CBS News
The quirky, wise-cracking judge really seemed to get under Mr. Trump’s skin. The defendant frequently stepped just outside the courtroom, lambasting the case and Engoron. He and his supporters called the judge a “wack job,” “lunatic,” “deranged,” “corrupt,” “radical,” and other derogatory names.
The judge never responded, but he drew a red line, which Mr. Trump violated: going after the judge’s staff.
A court officer had to escort the judge’s law clerk to and from her home after Mr. Trump repeatedly posted and talked about her, Engoron said.
“I sometimes say that law clerks are the greatest invention in the history of the world. They’re just there to help … and we want to protect them because they can’t protect themselves as much as we can,” Engoron said. He added that “of course, it didn’t affect my rulings, my thoughts about the case.”
Engoron imposed a gag order on Mr. Trump that was replicated in two of Mr. Trump’s criminal cases. The 77-year-old, who faced mandatory retirement from the judiciary at the end of last year, revealed that he never before had to bar a defendant from targeting his staff.
The Trump case elevated Engoron to a stature he hadn’t experienced before or since, and he enjoyed the recognition.
“Just last night, somebody said, ‘You were the most famous judge in America, for a while,’” Engoron said.
“Total strangers would walk up to me, look at me very sincerely and very seriously and say ‘thank you.’ That’s all they would say. I knew what they were talking about,” Engoron said, recounting being recognized by a ticket-taker on the Long Island Railroad, and even by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Engoron is now senior counsel at the Manhattan law firm Phillips Nizer LLP, but he misses the gavel.
“Being a judge is just the greatest job in the world. You get to help society. You get to set precedents. You get all this respect,” Engoron said. “When people used to say, ‘Your honor,’ I would look around, like, who are they talking to? And then I’d realize it’s me.”
During Mr. Trump’s trial, Engoron faced criticism from Trump allies who claimed he pandered to the media. New York Rep. Elise Stefanik said in a letter to the state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct that Engoron “infamously smiled and posed for the cameras.” One day, from the bench he instructed reporters on how to pronounce his name (En-GOR-on, not EN-gur-on). Another day he said he wanted reporters to note he “bounded” up the steps to the bench.
The criticisms, he said, “were silly.”
“Had nothing to do with the trial. I bounded up the stairs to the bench because there’s all these people waiting and I guess I was showing a little bit of enthusiasm. What do they call it? Hot-dogging,” Engoron said.
There was plenty of hot-dogging to go around. Mr. Trump’s team in particular was prone to long speeches and diatribes, and the judge rarely interrupted.
Engoron said he’s “known as someone that lets people talk, that gives me more information.”
And from a judge’s perspective, there’s a strategic element to that.
“Makes it less likely that I can be reversed, because the judge can be reversed for excluding evidence. And also they’ll leave knowing that I considered everything. They had their day in court,” Engoron said. “My staff would sometimes say, ‘Come on, Judge, we’ve got to move on.’ Nope, they can talk as long as they want.”
Engoron’s freewheeling approach to managing his courtroom was contrasted by his focused, scathing and serious written opinions, writing of evidence in the case, “the frauds found here leap off the page and shock the conscience.”
“I wanted them to be no-nonsense. I didn’t want to be criticized for not taking the case seriously. And I just wanted the facts and the law,” Engoron said.
Engoron found Mr. Trump, his company and several of its executives — including Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump — liable for fraud before the trial even began. Once it was over, he sanctioned them about $350 million, a total that ballooned with interest to more than $500 million. An appeals court last year tossed out the financial penalty, but left in place the fraud finding. Both sides have further appealed. Mr. Trump asked the state’s highest court in April to throw out the case completely, and James’ office wants the financial penalty reinstated.
Engoron is following closely, but he’s not concerned about how the appeals will affect his legacy.
“I had my moments of glory. I tried to do the right thing. I tried to be very even-handed when I made rulings. You don’t count the rulings, but at the end of the day, I think I ruled for each side somewhat similarly, if it was quantified at all,” Engoron said. “So it was a net positive. I was glad I got to do it.”