Former President Donald Trump was found in contempt of court Tuesday after Judge Juan Merchant said Trump violated the gag order imposed on him in his “hush money” trial.
Judge Juan Merchan said nine of Trump’s posts violated the ban on discussing witnesses, potential witnesses or jurors and fined Trump $1,000 for each post, according to NBC.
In a written order, Merchan said 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,” according to CBS.
Merchan bemoaned the fact that state law does not allow for a fine higher than $1,000 saying the punishment “unfortunately will not achieve the desired result in those instances where the [defendant] can easily afford such a fine.”
He said, since a higher fine is out of the question, he “must therefore consider whether in some instances, jail may be a necessary punishment.”
“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,” he wrote.
Trump was ordered to take down seven Truth Social posts and two posts from his campaign website by 2:15 p.m. Tuesday, according to NBC.
The only bright side for Trump was that Merchan said he would consider exempting Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels given statements they are making or expected to make outside of court.
Prosecutor Chris Conroy has said Trump “seems to be angling” to be locked up as part of his campaign.
Do these posts violate his gag order?
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Trump’s legal team has said Trump is responding to attacks.
Although Trump’s legal team had said in some cases Trump was only reposting the comments of others, Merchan said it made no difference.
“A repost, whether with or without commentary by the Defendant, is in fact a statement of the Defendant,” Merchan said.
“The issue of ‘reposting’ appears to be a question of first impression,” Merchan wrote.
“Lacking legal authority to guide its decision, this Court must, as defense counsel stated at the hearing, rely on common sense … Defendant curated the posts at issue and then took the necessary steps to publish the posts on his Truth Social account and on his campaign website,” he continued.
“In doing so, he endorsed the posts with one purpose in mind — to maximize viewership and to communicate his stamp of approval.”
The issue is not dead.
Another hearing is scheduled for Thursday on four more posts the prosecution said violated the gag order, according to The New York Times.
