Judge Threatens to Jail Donald Trump for Violating Gag Order

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Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing Donald Trump’s “hush money” case in New York, has ruled that Trump has defied his gag order ten times already. Now he’s put Trump on notice that he needs to pay a $1,000 fine and remove an “offending statement” from his Truth Social account, and that “future violations of its lawful orders will be punishable by incarceration.”

🚨 Judge Threatens Trump with JAIL for future violations of his gag order:

“Defendant is hereby put on notice that if appropriate and warranted, future violations of its lawful orders will be punishable by incarceration.” pic.twitter.com/RGhwAOo8rg

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) May 6, 2024

MSNBC reports:

Judge Juan Merchan ruled that Donald Trump has violated a gag order in his criminal case yet again — for the 10th time. The judge said he’s imposing the maximum $1,000 fine on the defendant but noted that such penalties aren’t deterring Trump, so jail may be next for the former president and presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s next violation.

Merchan previously found Trump in contempt on nine violations in an April 30 ruling. This latest decision on Monday, as trial testimony continues, stems from separate alleged violations regarding statements about key witnesses Michael Cohen and David Pecker, as well as about the jury. Merchan found Trump in contempt for one of the alleged violations, regarding the jury statement.

The violation came from an April 22 interview in which Trump said that the jury “was picked so fast — 95% Democrats. The area’s mostly all Democrat. You think of it as a — just a purely Democrat area. It’s a very unfair situation, that I can tell you.” While the judge disagreed with the prosecution on the Cohen and Pecker statements, he said Trump’s jury statement called into question the integrity and legitimacy of the proceedings and also raised the specter of fear for the safety of the jurors and their loved ones.