NEW YORK — The Manhattan district attorney’s office on Monday sought to fine former President Trump for his inflammatory tweets and comments about his criminal case for hiding money.
Assistant District Attorney Chris Conroy said the former president in three recent posts on Truth Social violated a gag order imposed by Judge Juan Merchan that prohibited him from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and the judge’s family.
Conroy called for Trump to be fined $1,000 for each post and reminded that he could be arrested if he continues to violate the gag order. The judge hasn’t decided yet.
“The defendant is aware of the April 1 order. We know this from the various posts he has made,” Conroy said.
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche insisted the posts in question do not violate the gag order.
“He is responding to the lewd, repeated and vehement attacks of these witnesses,” Blanche said.
Monday’s development, which came on the first day of Trump’s hush money trial, followed a series of Truth Social posts Trump has made about potential witnesses in recent days.
Prosecutors pointed to an April 10 post in which Trump thanked Michael Avenatti, the former lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels, for “revealing the truth about two scoundrels who, with their lies and misrepresentations, cost our country dearly.” The “sleazebags” mentioned by Avenatti were Daniels and former Trump fixer Michael Cohen.
Another Trump post in question, also shared on April 10, showed an “official statement” from Daniels where she denied having an affair with Trump – a central allegation in the case. Daniels later retracted the statement, which was not mentioned in Trump’s post.
And lastly, an April 13 post in which Trump described Cohen as a “disgraced lawyer and criminal…prosecuted for lying” and suggested that Mark Pomerantz, a former Manhattan prosecutor who once oversaw the investigation of the former president, should be “prosecuted for his terrible actions inside and outside the Prosecutor’s Office.”
Prosecutors have suggested that a post Trump issued Monday morning as he arrived in court may also violate the gag order. The motion was drafted in advance and makes no reference to it, however.
The gag order does not prevent Trump from insulting Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) or the judge himself. It originally did not cover members of the Bragg and Merchan families, but was expanded after Trump targeted the judge’s daughter, Loren, who works for a progressive political consulting firm that has clients including President Biden and Vice President Harris.
Trump appealed the order, arguing that the ban on public statements about individuals involved in the case unconstitutionally restricts his freedom of expression while running for president and mounting his defense.
A single judge on New York’s mid-level appeals court refused to stay the trial over Trump’s request, but a full panel of five judges has yet to hear the matter.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
