Efforts to hold Donald Trump accountable are testing the legal system in unprecedented ways. Judges are struggling with how to rein in the former president’s inflammatory rhetoric while balancing the free speech rights of a political candidate. Trump was unexpectedly called to the witness stand in his New York business fraud trial on Wednesday and was slapped with a $10,000 fine for violating a gag order. That courtroom drama previews the tensions mounting between Trump’s competing legal and political interests as he vies for the Republican presidential nomination while facing a litany of criminal and civil cases. Trump has said court efforts to limit his speech are unconstitutional.
