The judge presiding over former President Trump’s unprecedented criminal trial will hold a hearing Thursday morning to consider the remaining alleged gag order violations after fining the 2024 presumptive Republican nominee $9,000 and threatening him with jail time.
Trump’s criminal trial is set to resume at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. Court does not meet on Wednesdays.
JUDGE FINES TRUMP THOUSANDS OVER VIOLATING GAG ORDER, WARNS ‘INCARCERATORY PUNISHMENT’ COULD BE NEXT
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and prosecutors from his office alleged the former president violated the gag order that Judge Juan Merchan imposed upon him 14 times.
Former President Trump greets attendees at a Super Tuesday election night watch party at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 5, 2024. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The gag order bans Trump from speaking publicly about witnesses, court staff and their families.
Merchan on Tuesday found that Trump violated the order on nine separate occasions, with each violation resulting in a $1,000 fine.
The judge detailed in the order that if Trump carries out “continued willful violations” of the gag order, he could face “incarceratory punishment” if “necessary and appropriate.”
During a hearing on the gag order last week, Merchan said the Trump legal team was “losing all credibility” while defending the 45th president’s comments on social media that violated the order.
“I’ve asked you eight or nine times, ‘Show me the exact post that he was responding to,’ and you haven’t been able to do that once,” Merchan told the Trump team last week.
NY V TRUMP CRIMINAL TRIAL BEGINS ITS 3RD WEEK AS FORMER PRESIDENT ACCUSED OF GAG ORDER VIOLATIONS
The defense team argued in the hearing that Trump was responding to attacks made against him when he posted comments that allegedly violated the order.
Trump, in response to the ruling, said on social media that Merchan has “taken away my Constitutional Right to FREE SPEECH.”
Justice Juan Merchan is shown in a courtroom sketch during former President Trump’s criminal trial in New York City on April 23, 2024. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
“I am the only Presidential Candidate in History to be GAGGED,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“This whole ‘Trial’ is RIGGED, and by taking away my FREEDOM OF SPEECH, THIS HIGHLY CONFLICTED JUDGE IS RIGGING THE PRESIDENTIAL OF 2024 ELECTION. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!” he continued.
Trump on Tuesday morning again called on “conflicted” Merchan to recuse himself from the case.
“This is a hoax. This is a judge who is conflicted – badly, badly, badly conflicted. I’ve never seen a judge so conflicted and giving us virtually no rulings,” Trump said outside the courtroom before the trial kicked off its ninth day.
In Merchan’s ruling with regard to the gag order on Tuesday, the judge lamented not being able to fine Trump more than $1,000 per violation. He wrote in the order that it would be “preferable” if the court “could impose a fine more commensurate with the wealth of the contemnor.”
This sketch shows prosecutor Matthew Colangelo making opening statements as former President Trump listens with his attorney, Todd Blanche, in a Manhattan courtroom in New York City on April 22, 2024. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
“In some cases that might be a $2,500 fine, in other cases it might be a fine of $150,000. Because this Court is not cloaked with such discretion, it must therefore consider whether in some instances, jail may be a necessary punishment,” he wrote, highlighting again that Trump could face time behind bars if he continues violating the order.
Meanwhile, at 10 a.m., Merchan will invite the jury into the courtroom to resume witness testimony.
So far, prosecutors have called former American Media Inc. CEO David Pecker, former assistant and senior VP of the Trump Organization Rhona Graff, former senior managing director at First Republic Bank Gary Farro, and former lawyer for Stormy Daniels Dylan Howard to the stand to testify.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree related to alleged payments made to silence adult film actress Stormy Daniels about an alleged extramarital affair with Trump before the 2016 election.
TRUMP TRIAL: FORMER PRESIDENT ‘INNOCENT,’ DEFENSE SAYS AS DA ALLEGES ‘CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY’
Bragg must convince the jury that not only did Trump falsify the business records related to hush money payments but also that he did so in furtherance of another crime: conspiracy to promote or prevent election.
Prosecutors will try to prove that the alleged conspiracy was to conceal a plot to unlawfully promote his candidacy in 2016.
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Typically, on their own, falsifying business records and conspiracy to promote or prevent election are viewed as misdemeanors.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
