Judge taking charge of Donald Trump's hush money case on Tuesday Trump charges former president with criminal contempt over series of Truth Social posts for violating gag order that prohibits attacking jurors or witnesses, and says he could be jailed for further violations warned the president.
Judge Juan Marchan sentenced Trump to contempt for nine gag order violations and fined him $1,000 for each count. In his decision, he warned that he would not tolerate further violations of the order and said he would impose a “prison sentence” on the former president “if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances.”
The judge explained that because the fine is limited by state law and relatively small compared to Trump's assets, it may be unlikely to deter the former president from complying with the court's order. Mr Machan said he wanted to impose commensurately high fines, but instead needed to consider “whether prison would be a necessary punishment in some cases”.
The gag order prohibits the former president from “making public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses regarding the investigation or possible participation in this criminal proceeding” and “from making public statements about potential jurors or It is prohibited to make public statements about jurors.
Marchan said Tuesday that his order was “legal and clear” and that Trump had violated it with social media posts about witnesses and public comments about jurors. He ordered President Trump to remove seven of the offending posts from his Truth social account and two other offensive posts from his campaign website by 2:15 p.m. Tuesday. Ta.
The judge also modified the gag order to remove future witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels from protection in response to Trump's complaints about comments they made outside court. He said he might consider doing so.
In a statement following the judge's ruling, Judge Cohen said the small fine was “irrelevant. Judge Marchan's decision makes clear that this type of behavior will not be tolerated and that no one is above the law.” Stated.
Marchan said on April 23 that he was unimpressed by the defense's arguments and said Trump had “lost all credibility” by suggesting he was acting carefully to comply with the gag order. told one of his lawyers.
Prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office have violated Marchand's order at least 10 times since it went into effect on April 1, including posts calling potential witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels “scumbags.” He accused President Trump of Another appeared to be a quote from Fox News personality Jesse Watters: “They're secretly catching liberal activists who lied to judges to get on Trump juries.”
Prosecutors imposed fines of up to $1,000 for each post deemed in violation and ordered Trump to remove the post. Prosecutors also wanted Marchand to warn Trump that future violations could result in additional fines and up to 30 days in jail.
Trump's possible imprisonment is likely to be used by the former president's campaign and supporters, especially as a fundraising tool. Trump has already sent out numerous fundraising appeals related to the trial and the consequences he may face. A mugshot taken last year after he was indicted in Georgia over his own efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election became a huge fundraising success for Trump.
Prosecutor Chris Conroy said during a hearing on the morning of April 23 that Trump “appears to be aiming” to be detained for political purposes.
Trump's lawyers countered that the former president did not intentionally violate the order, but merely responded to a “barrage of political attacks.”
But under pressure from the judge, Trump's lawyer, Todd Blanche, struggled to determine what type of attack Trump was allegedly responding to. The judge said he had “repeatedly asked for examples but has not received an answer”.
Trump's lawyer, Emil Bove, previously said that some of the posts were responses to remarks made by Trump's former lawyer, Cohen, and others were reprints from related parties and media outlets, which violated the gag order. He said no. Mr. Machan asked for case law to support his position, but Mr. Blanche said he had no case law. “That's common sense, sir,” said Blanche.
Machan responded to this claim in Tuesday's ruling, ruling that “the repost is effectively a statement by the defendant, regardless of whether or not it is commented upon by the defendant.”
“The issue of 'reposting' appears to be one of first impression,” the judge wrote. “As defense counsel stated during the hearing, the lack of legal authority to guide decisions forces this court to rely on common sense… Defendants cherry-picked the postings in question and posted them on their Truth Social He took the necessary steps to publish the post on his account, with one objective in mind: to maximize viewership and convey his approval.''
President Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money his lawyer paid to Cohen for Daniels in the final stages of his 2016 campaign. Daniels claims she had sexual contact with President Trump in 2006, an allegation Daniels denies.
If Trump is convicted, he could be sentenced to up to four years in prison.
