Former President Trump faced a new threat in a New York criminal trial on Monday.
Judge Juan Marchand noted that if Trump continues to violate the gag order, he could be sent to prison.
Marchand warned of that possibility after he fined Trump for the 10th time for violating an executive order barring the former president from attacking jurors, court officials, judges’ families and others.
President Trump complained about the gag order, claiming that his rights were being violated.
Trump has been charged with 34 felonies for falsifying business records. This is the first criminal trial of a former president.
Prosecutors’ underlying argument is that President Trump was trying to hide $130,000 in hush money he paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the final stages of his 2016 campaign.
The money was intended to prevent Ms. Daniels from going public with her story that she had sex with Mr. Trump about a decade ago. The money was paid to Daniels by Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, and was later returned.
Mr. Trump has denied having sex with Mr. Daniels or engaging in any wrongdoing.
Here are five takeaways from Monday’s minutes.
The specter of prison looms over Trump
The controversy over the gag order is at the center of the court drama.
Marchan’s comments threatening to jail Trump came as he fined him an additional $1,000. The decision brings Trump’s total fine in the case to $10,000.
Monday’s initial ruling could have been even worse for Trump. The only instance in which Marchan found a violation was one of four comments by the former president tagged by prosecutors.
But the judge also complained that President Trump’s public comments about the trial, made in interviews and on social media, “threatened to obstruct the fair administration of justice and constituted a direct attack on the rule of law.”
“We cannot allow this situation to continue,” Machan said.
The judge’s written order states that “in appropriate and justified cases” new violations “will be punished by imprisonment.”
Jailing Trump could reap political benefits by further energizing his most fervent supporters.
So far, it was shocking to hear the former president directly threatened with prison time, no matter what the verdict is in the case itself.
More revealed about hush money payments
On Monday, new details emerged about how the reimbursement would work.
This happened during testimony from former Trump Organization corporate administrator Jeffrey McConney.
McConney noted that the installment reimbursement to Cohen was made first from Trump’s trust and later from the former president’s personal account. Of the total $420,000 ultimately paid to Mr. Cohen, $105,000 came from the trust and $315,000 from Mr. Trump’s personal funds.
As it was previously known, Cohen was reimbursed $420,000 for his $130,000 expenses due to an “increased total” including various taxes he had to pay. It also included a $60,000 bonus.
By the time Cohen’s compensation was paid, Trump had been elected the 45th president. McConney testified that some of the personal checks had to be sent from New York to the White House for President Trump’s signature.
On Monday, a second witness for the Trump Organization, Deborah Tarasoff, testified that the checks were sent to Washington by FedEx and returned with Trump’s signature, distinctively signed in sharps.
Trump’s defense: What’s the problem?
When Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) announced the New York indictment 13 months ago, even some legal experts with no attachment to President Trump expressed doubts about the case. I was concerned.
Mr. Trump’s alleged crimes would only be felonies, not misdemeanors, if they were committed in furtherance of another crime.
Prosecutors’ argument here is that Trump’s alleged record-tampering was intended to help him win the 2016 election, and therefore amounted to election interference. However, the former president has not been charged with election law violations.
Moreover, Mr. Trump’s team argues that there is no answer because it is fair and accurate to classify the payments to Mr. Cohen as legal expenses.
Mr. Trump’s team may have made some progress on that point on Monday, asking Mr. McConney some rather pointed questions.
President Trump’s lawyer Emile Bove asked the former administrator, “Are payments to lawyers considered legal costs?” and the former administrator agreed.
Mr. Bove also got Mr. Maconie to agree that oral agreements for legal representation may also be valid. This is an important detail because Mr. McConney previously testified that he had never seen the written agreement with Mr. Cohen at the time.
nod ‘apprentice‘
Monday’s testimony included material reminiscent of President Trump’s popular reality show, NBC’s “The Apprentice.”
McConney recalled going to President Trump’s office in the 1980s and being told, “You’re fired.” This phrase later became a catchphrase.
President Trump actually didn’t want to get rid of McConney. However, the future president was frustrated that his cash level had fallen in the previous week.
President Trump suggested that McConney might “negotiate” to amend the bill downward to prevent something like this from happening again.
Reporters in the courtroom said Trump seemed to enjoy the story.
Prosecutors say there are two weeks until arguments.
Mr Machan urged the trial to proceed as quickly as possible.
Seems to be working well so far. At the end of Monday’s proceedings, the prosecution team said they needed about two more weeks to make their case.
“This has been too long,” Trump complained to reporters shortly after the court adjourned for the day, adding: “I thought it would end today.”
In fact, the trial was widely expected to last about six weeks. Things still seem to be progressing smoothly during that period.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
