CLAIM: Video clips show the judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s fraud case in New York drinking from a bottle of alcohol during court sessions.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The green bottles in the videos match the label and distinctive design of Mountain Valley Spring Water, not Tanqueray gin, as online posts suggest. A court spokesperson and the Arkansas-based bottled water company both confirmed the judge was sipping from a Mountain Valley container.
THE FACTS: As the former president’s fraud trial opened in New York this week, social media users shared videos they claimed showed the presiding judge openly sipping from a large bottle of alcohol during court proceedings.
Some shared a video from inside this week’s session at New York Supreme Court in Manhattan in which Judge Arthur Engoron is seen seated at the bench at the head of the courtroom dressed in a justice’s traditional black robe.
On the left hand side of his desk, next to his computer monitor, is a large, green-colored glass bottle that a number of users suggested was Tanqueray’s distinctive green bottle of gin.
“Corrupt Justice Arthur Engoron — New York’s Hobo Judge,” wrote one Facebook user who shared the video in a post that’s been liked or shared more than 5,000 times as of Friday afternoon.
Other social media users shared a different video depicting the judge seated in an office dressed in a blue button down shirt and dark pants.
At one point, Engoron reaches down to grab a similar-looking green bottle as in the courtroom clip. He unscrews the reddish-colored cap and takes a long swig.
But the curious container seen in both clips is merely a large Mountain Valley Spring Water bottle, confirmed Lucian Chalfen, a spokesperson for the New York state court system.
He added in an email Friday that the bottle “without question” contained water, not booze, as the posts claim.
Mountain Valley Spring Water, an Arkansas-based company founded in 1871, also confirmed Engoron appeared to be drinking from an older vintage of its trademark glass bottles.
Indeed, the vessel shown in the videos circulating online matches the tall, slim profile of Mountain Valley’s bottles. It also matches the company’s older branding, including a silver-and-red-topped cap and an oval-shaped red logo flanked by two white leaf motifs in circles.
A Tanqueray bottle, in contrast, is more squat, with a larger silver cap, a square white label and a red seal located near the neck of the bottle.
The false claims spread online this week as Engoron imposed a limited gag order and ordered Trump to delete a social media post that publicly maligned his law clerk.
State prosecutors, in their lawsuit, claim the New York business mogul-turned-politician and his companies deceived banks, insurers and others by misstating his wealth for years in financial statements.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office brought the case, is seeking a $250 million penalty and a prohibition on Trump doing business in New York.
Engoron, a Democrat, already ruled last week that Trump committed fraud by exaggerating the size of his Trump Tower apartment, claiming his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida was worth as much as $739 million and putting similar oversized valuations on office towers, golf courses and other assets.
The non-jury trial, which opened Monday, concerns six remaining claims in the lawsuit and how much Trump might owe in penalties.
The Republican, who is running for president in 2024, has denied any wrongdoing.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
