Former President Donald Trump was found guilty of violating at least nine gag orders in New York v. Trump in Manhattan, the presiding judge ruled Tuesday.
Judge Juan Melchan sentenced to fine President Trump fined $9,000 for violating gag order It prohibits him from speaking publicly about witnesses or family members of court officials. The judge found he had breached the order on nine separate occasions and was fined $1,000 for each breach.
In his order, the judge detailed that Trump’s “continued and willful violation” of the gag order could result in “prison terms” if “necessary and appropriate.”
President Trump’s lawyers argue that the gag order is a violation of the former president’s First Amendment rights. District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his office allege that Trump has violated the order at least 14 times as of last week. Prior to last month’s trial, President Trump was under a gag order.
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Former President Donald Trump returns to Trump Tower on Monday, April 15, 2024, in New York City. Trump was in Manhattan Criminal Court today for jury selection in the so-called “hush money” case. (Fox New Digital Probe Media)
During last week’s gag order hearing, Marchan defended the 45th president’s social media comments that violate the gag order, claiming the Trump campaign has “lost all credibility.”
“I asked him eight or nine times to show me the exact post he was responding to, and he never did,” Marchand told the Trump campaign last week.
The defense team argued the following at the hearing: President Trump was responding to the attack. When you make a comment that allegedly violates an order. Marchand pressed Branch to provide examples of Trump’s response to specific incidents.
A courtroom sketch depicts former President Donald Trump’s appearance in Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday, April 19, 2024, in New York. Trump’s criminal trial is in its fourth day of jury selection. (Kristin Cornell)
“What I have to tell you right now is that I have lost all confidence in the court,” Marchand told Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche last Tuesday.
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Judge Juan Mercian poses for a photo in his New York courtroom on Thursday, March 14, 2024. More than a dozen Manhattan residents will soon become the first Americans in history to be sentenced for a former president accused of a crime. Jury selection in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial is scheduled to begin Monday. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (AP)
Meanwhile, President Trump flatly condemned the case as a “fraud” promoted by the Biden administration, claiming that the gag order had stripped him of his ability to protect himself from charges in the case.
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Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media after leaving the court during his trial on charges of concealing hush money payments in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, April 22, 2024. Former President Donald Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his first criminal case to go to trial. (Brendan McDiarmid Pool/Getty Images)
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“We have a gag order in place, and to me it’s completely unconstitutional. I’m not allowed to talk, but people are allowed to talk about me,” Trump said outside a New York courtroom. So they can talk about me.” “They can say whatever they want, they can lie, but I’m not allowed to say anything. I just sit there and ask why the opposing judge ordered me to speak. I have to think about it.” [a] gag order,” Trump said in comments outside court last week.
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“I don’t think anyone has ever seen anything like this. I want to talk to you all. I want to say everything that’s on my mind, but I’m restricted because of the gag order,” he said. continued. .
