Judge Calls Silverstein On Gag Order

The proceeding before U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mukasey will determine whether the comments Mr. Silverstein made at a press conference this Monday at the WTC site violated a gag order barring him from talking to the press.

Lawyers representing 13 insurers arrayed against Mr. Silverstein in the court case complained to the judge about newspaper reports in which Mr. Silverstein was quoted criticizing the insurers.

According to the reports, during a Ground Zero news conference, Mr. Silverstein criticized his insurers in the case for refusing to pay him the $7 billion that he says he deserves.

"We're trying to get them to fulfill the responsibilities that we paid for when we paid the premiums on the policies," Mr. Silverstein told reporters. But, he added, "instead of getting insurance, we've got ourselves a massive amount of litigation."

Speaking at the new 7 World Trade Center building currently under construction, Mr. Silverstein also said rebuilding the WTC site would cost roughly $12 billion, much higher than some earlier estimates.

"We're fighting hard with the insurance companies to achieve the money that's gonna be necessary," he said.

The press conference was originally scheduled by Mr. Silverstein's camp to showcase Mr. Silverstein's plan to increase the involvement of minorities and women in the WTC rebuilding effort. But according to the reports, the issue of the insurance claim turned into a free for all with city politicians who were invited to the event joining in Mr. Silverstein's chatter about the case.

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York, commented, "It's so ridiculous to believe that the insurance companies might believe that it was just one incident that happened in Pennsylvania, one incident that happened in the Pentagon and one incident that happened here."

Mr. Silverstein's court case centers on his contention that the terrorist destruction of the Twin Towers by two airliners involved two separate reimbursable insurance events. Insurers argue it was one event.

Attorneys representing insurers complained to the judge that throughout the trial they have not been speaking to the press and that "it is not possible to have one side free to speak to the press and not the other."

But Herbert Wachtell, the lead attorney for Mr. Silverstein, protested to the judge that the court was unclear regarding to what extent both sides can talk to the media. "There was a misunderstanding of the communication that it was okay to respond to reporters' questions. Our understanding was it was only as to matters in the courtroom."

Mr. Wachtell added, "I cleared up the misunderstanding. There will be no repetition. There was a misunderstanding because there had been a discussion that you could respond to reporters' questions," to clarify things that happened in the trial.

Judge Mukasey, reacting to the reports of Mr. Silverstein's statements, told attorneys that "this is something that is going to get cured. We are not waiting until the end of the trial."