The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s silence case on Tuesday found the former president in criminal contempt for a series of posts on Truth Social that he said violated a gag order prohibiting any attacks on jurors and witnesses, and warned Trump that he could be arrested for further violations.
Judge Juan Merchan found Trump in contempt for nine violations of his gag order, with a $1,000 fine for each instance. He warned in the ruling that he would not tolerate further violations of the order and said that “if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances,” he would impose “an incarceratory punishment” on the former president.
The judge explained that because the fines, which are limited by state law, were relatively small compared to Trump’s wealth, they were unlikely to dissuade him from complying with the court’s order. Although Merchan said he would prefer to impose proportionately larger fines, he had to consider “whether in some cases, imprisonment may be a necessary punishment”.
The gag order prohibits the former president from “making or ordering others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses regarding their potential participation in the investigation or this criminal proceeding” and “public statements about any potential juror or any juror.”
Merhan said Tuesday that Trump must remove seven of the posts in question from his Truth Social account and two other offensive posts from his campaign website by 2:15 p.m. Tuesday.
The judge also said in response to Trump’s complaints about comments from expected witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels outside the courtroom that he might consider modifying the gag order to remove them from their protections if he feels it is necessary in the future.
Cohen said in a statement responding to the judge’s ruling that the small fine “is irrelevant. Judge Merchan’s decision clarifies that this behavior will not be tolerated and that no one is above the law.”
Merchan indicated on April 23 that he was unimpressed with the defense’s arguments, telling one of Trump’s lawyers that he was “losing all credibility” when he suggested that Trump was exercising caution in complying with the gag order.
Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have accused Trump of violating Merchan’s April 1 order at least 10 times since it took effect, including in a post that called expected witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels “scumbags.” Another appeared to be a quote from Fox News personality Jesse Watters that said, “They’re catching undercover liberal activists lying to the judge to get on Trump’s jury.”
The prosecutor asked for the maximum fine of $1,000 for each post he found to be a violation, along with an order that Trump remove the posts. Prosecutors also asked Merchan to warn Trump that any future violations could result in additional fines and up to 30 days in jail.
The possibility of Trump’s arrest will likely be seized upon by the former president’s campaign and supporters – particularly as a fundraising tool. Trump has already sent out a series of fundraising appeals related to the trial and the consequences he could face. Last year, the photo he took after being accused in Georgia, due to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, generated a fundraising bonanza for Trump.
Prosecutor Chris Conroy said during an April 23 morning hearing that Trump “appears to be planning” to be arrested for political reasons.
Trump’s legal team responded that the former president had not intentionally violated the order and was simply responding to a “deluge of political attacks.”
Pressed by the judge, however, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche had difficulty identifying which attacks Trump was allegedly responding to. “I keep asking you over and over again to give me an example and I get no response,” the judge said.
Trump lawyer Emil Bove previously said that some of the posts were responses to comments from Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, and that others were reposted by people and media outlets, which he said did not violate the gag order. Merchan asked for case law to support this position, and Blanche said she had none. “It’s just common sense, Your Honor,” Blanche said.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records related to his reimbursement to Cohen for the lawyer’s secret payment to Daniels in the final days of the 2016 campaign. Daniels claims he had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, an allegation he denies .
Trump could face up to four years in prison if convicted.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
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