By Adam Reiss and Dareh Gregorian -
NBC News
An envelope containing a mysterious white powder was sent this Wednesday to the judge who handed down the $350 million fine against former President Donald Trump, prompting an emergency response in the New York court, a source confirmed to NBC News. direct knowledge of the incident.
Judge Arthur Engoron and his staff were not exposed to the substance: his mail is pre-sorted daily and the envelope was intercepted before it reached his hands.
An official and a court employee were exposed but were not injured, according to the source.
ABC News was the first to report the event.
Judge Arthur Engoron during the civil fraud trial against the Trump Organization in New York, in January 2024.Shannon Stapleton / Getty Images pool file
The threat is by no means the first against the judge.
Long Island police responded to a bomb alert at his home last month, hours before closing arguments were to begin in Trump's civil fraud trial.
After the trial collapsed last year, officials said in a court filing that the judge and his law clerk had received a “deluge” of threats after Trump repeatedly criticized them on social media.
Many of these threats were deemed “credible” by law enforcement.