Judge Juan Merchan has ruled that former President Donald Trump is in contempt and has violated his gag order nine times.
Trump is on trial for allegations that he covered up a sex scandal during the 2016 election by paying "hush money" to porn star Stormy Daniels. These are the first criminal charges ever brought against a former president.
On Tuesday, Trump was fined $9,000, which he must pay by the end of the week, and ordered to remove the offending posts from his social media and campaign website by 2:15 p.m.
The judge wrote that Trump "violated the Order by making social media posts about known witnesses pertaining to their participation in this criminal proceeding and by making public statements about jurors in this criminal proceeding."
The judge also warned that further violations could lead to the former president being jailed."THEREFORE, Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment."
The gag order prohibits Trump from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, and jurors. He also cannot comment on prosecutors, court staff, or their relatives.
Many of the posts that were in violation targeted Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels, both witnesses in the case.
The judge noted that he is not permitted to issue a fine higher than $1,000 per violation and lamented "unfortunately will not achieve the desired result in those instances where the [defendant] can easily afford such a fine."
Due to being unable to issue higher fines, the judge said he "must therefore consider whether in some instances, jail may be a necessary punishment."
Mediaite reports:Tuesday’s ruling does not apply to the alleged four new instances of possible violations that prosecutors raised in court on Thursday. A separate hearing is scheduled for May 2 to address those.
Merchan had instructed Trump not to publicly comment on court personnel or witnesses, and prosecutors argued Tuesday that he had done so on at least ten occasions. Eight violations, prosecutors argued, were committed by Trump in his Truth Social posts — in which he went after Merchan, his daughter, former lawyer and star witness for the prosecution Michael Cohen, and others.
