A New York judge is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday over whether former President Trump violated a gag order imposed on him in the hush-money case.
Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office allege that President Trump has violated orders 10 times that prohibit him from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, court staff, or the families of judges.
They asked Judge Juan Melchan to fine the former president $1,000 for each offending post and remind him that he could be jailed if he continues to ignore the order. They also asked the judge to hold him in contempt.
“The defendant is aware of the April 1 order,” Assistant District Attorney Chris Conroy said last week. “We know that from the various posts he has made.”
The alleged violations were posted primarily on President Trump’s Truth social media, and Trump has commented on potential witnesses in recent days. The gag order does not prevent Trump from attacking judges or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat.
one post, Created on April 10tha former lawyer thanked porn actress Stormy Daniels for “revealing the truth about two despicable men who have done so much damage to our country with their lies and misrepresentations.”
The “scumbags” in question were Mr. Daniels and Mr. Trump’s former fixer and personal lawyer Michael Cohen, both of whom were expected to be star witnesses in the district attorney’s case.
Another post disparaged Mr. Cohen, calling him a “disgraced lawyer who was indicted for a felon…lying” and calling Mark Pomerantz, the former Manhattan prosecutor who once oversaw the Trump investigation, “the DA’s office. He should be prosecuted for his terrible acts both inside and outside the country.” ”
Trump vocally opposed the gag, saying it was evidence that Trump was unfairly stacked against him in his first criminal trial.
“The gag order must be lifted,” President Trump told reporters on Friday. “People are allowed to talk about me, but I have a gag order in place to show you how unfair that is.”
He added that he has spoken to reporters in court every day since the trial began, but “they have taken away my constitutional right to speak.”
President Trump has appealed the gag order, arguing that it is an unconstitutional violation of First Amendment rights, but it remains in place to this day.
However, Mr. Trump’s lawyers strongly pushed back against prosecutors’ claims that Mr. Trump’s posts completely violated this provision.
Attorney Emile Bove argued that the cited posts “do not establish willful violation” and cited Cohen’s attacks as evidence that Trump’s comments were linked to his campaign. Cohen, who has consistently criticized President Trump, has shared and reshared posts mocking the former president in recent days.
Possible consequences of violating gag orders
If Marchand is found to have violated the order, he could order Trump to pay a fine or serve 30 days in jail for each incident under New York state law.
President Obama’s ethics lawyer Norm Eisen and four other experts argued that the judge could seek a compromise early in the case that could avoid a prison sentence for Trump. blog post For Just Security.
“We expect the court to fine Mr. Trump for a significant number of violations and warn him that future violations may result in additional fines and prison time.” It is said that “The most difficult question to answer, however, is whether a finding of contempt and the resulting punishment will deter this particular defendant from committing future offenses. History suggests that this may be the case. has been done.”
Trump’s lawyers also pushed back against the idea that reposting someone else’s public comments constitutes a violation of the executive order. Five of the alleged violations relate to Mr. Trump or his campaign reposting a New York Post op-ed article denouncing Mr. Cohen as a “serial perjurer,” and two other violations. Possibilities involved other media re-sharing.
“While the judge will be on solid legal grounds to sanction Mr. Trump for all of his comments, he will be careful to distinguish between some reposts in order to take a balanced and gradual approach.” may,” Eisen and other experts said. I wrote this in a blog post.
Gag orders in other Trump cases
Mr. Marchand has experience in numerous civil and criminal trials, and this is not the first time he has issued a gag order against Mr. Trump.
In Trump’s New York civil fraud trial, the judge also placed a gag order on Trump, prohibiting him from speaking publicly about court officials. He also faces a gag order barring him from attacking key witnesses or prosecutors in the federal election interference case, except for Special Counsel Jack Smith.
The former president was fined $15,000 for ignoring the judge’s instructions in his fraud trial, and when Trump was asked to take the stand to defend himself, the judge ruled that Trump’s testimony was “vacuous and empty.” judged to be false.
Mr. Trump faces 34 charges of falsifying business records in New York criminal court, but the focus of the trial is a hush-money deal he struck with Mr. Daniels before the 2016 election to cover up allegations of an affair. Trump has maintained his innocence and denied that he had an extramarital affair.
On Monday, prosecutors told jurors that the agreement with Daniels was part of a broader plan to counteract bad publicity about President Trump ahead of the 2016 election. Defense attorneys argued that hush money alone was not illegal, suggesting that Trump’s arrangement was no different from the average non-disclosure agreement.
David Pecker, the former CEO of tabloid American Media, who is credited with helping block negative coverage of President Trump, was called as the district attorney’s first witness on Monday. Testimony is scheduled to resume after Tuesday’s gag order hearing.
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