The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money case on Tuesday held the former president in criminal contempt over a series of posts on Truth Social that he said violated a gag order barring any attacks on jurors and witnesses.
Judge Juan Merchan ruled Trump in contempt for nine violations of his gag order, with a fine of $1,000 for each instance. The order prohibits the former president from “making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding,” and “public statements about any prospective juror or any juror.”
Merchan had indicated on April 23 that he was not impressed by the arguments from the defense, telling one of Trump’s attorneys that he was “losing all credibility” when he suggested that Trump was exercising caution to comply with the gag order.
Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office had accused Trump of violating Merchan’s April 1 order at least 10 times since it went into effect, including a post that called expected witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels “sleaze bags.” Another appeared to be a quote from Fox News personality Jesse Watters that read, “They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury.”
The DA sought the maximum $1,000 fine for each post they considered a violation, along with an order that Trump remove the posts. Prosecutors had also asked Merchan to warn Trump that any future violations could be met with additional fines and up to 30 days in jail.
Prosecutor Chris Conroy said during April 23 morning hearing that Trump “seems to be angling” to be locked up for political purposes.
Trump’s legal team countered that the former president had not willfully violated the order, and that he was simply responding to a “barrage of political attacks.”
Pressed by the judge, however, Trump attorney Todd Blanche had trouble identifying what attacks Trump was supposedly responding to. “I keep asking you over and over to give me an example and I’m not getting an answer,” the judge said.
Trump attorney Emil Bove previously said that some of the posts were responses to remarks by Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, and that others were reposted from people and news outlets, which he said did not violate the gag order. Merchan asked for case law to back that position, and Blanche said he did not have any. “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 hush money payment to Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 campaign. Daniels claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, an allegation he denies.
Trump faces up to four years in prison if he’s convicted.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
