Former President Trump hinted Monday that he is open to going to prison for repeated violations of a gag order imposed by a New York judge.
“This judge gave me a gag order and said if I violate it, I’ll go to jail,” President Trump told reporters after court adjourned for the day in his hush money hearing. “And frankly, our Constitution is far more important than prison. It’s not even close. I’m willing to make that sacrifice any day.”
“But what’s happening here is shameful, and the Court of Appeals should get involved,” Trump added.
Judge Juan Melchán on Monday found President Trump had violated the gag order for the 10th time and ordered him to pay $1,000 for assaulting a juror in a hush money criminal trial, an order that the judge ruled had violated a series of previous gag orders. This was just a few days after he handed down his sentence for the gag order.
Marchand warned President Trump that future violations could result in jail time.
“The last thing I want to do is put you in jail,” Marchan told Trump, “but at the end of the day, I have a job to do.”
“Your continued violations amount to a direct attack on the rule of law,” Marchand said.
The gag order prohibits President Trump from hurling insults at witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court officials, or judges’ families. That doesn’t prevent him from attacking judges and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D).
Trump has argued that the restrictions violate his First Amendment right to respond to political attacks, which he says is his right as a potential Republican candidate for November’s presidential election.
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