Justice Juan Merchan, the US judge overseeing the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump, announced on Monday that he would hold the former president in contempt for the 10th time for violating a gag order, Reuters reported.
Merchan also warned that he would consider imprisoning Trump. The judge stated that the nine $1,000 fines he imposed so far did not appear to deter Trump from violating the non-disclosure order, which barred him from making public comments about jurors, witnesses and the families of the judge and prosecutors if the statements meant to interfere with the case.
The judge declared that he considered imprisonment “truly the last resort” for many reasons, including the disruption of the trial, the political fallout of imprisoning a leading presidential candidate before the election and the extraordinary security challenges of incarcerating an ex-president with a lifetime Secret Service detail.
I do not want to impose a jail sanction and have done everything I can to avoid doing so. But I will if necessary.
New York law allows fines of up to $1,000 or up to 30 days in jail for violating a court-imposed gag order. On Monday, Merchan imposed a $1,000 fine for an interview on April 22 in which the former Republican president stated, “That jury was picked so fast – 95 per cent Democrats. The area’s mostly all Democrat.”
He found that other statements flagged by prosecutors that mentioned witnesses Michael Cohen and David Pecker did not violate the order. Last week, Merchan fined Trump $9,000 for nine social media posts that he argued violated the gag order.
Trump’s criminal hush money trial, now in its 12th day, featured testimony from a top aide and former tabloid publisher about attempts during his first presidential campaign to keep stories of unflattering sexual behaviour quiet.
New York prosecutors accused Trump of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claimed to have had sexual contact with him in 2006. Trump pleaded not guilty and denied any sexual intercourse with Daniels.
Trump claims the non-disclosure order limits his ability to make his case to voters to return to the White House. Ahead of Monday’s hearing, Trump declined to comment about Michael Cohen, his former lawyer, who was expected to be a prominent witness in the trial.
The former president also reiterated that the New York prosecutor’s office was working with President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to complicate his political prospects. Trump claimed Merchan faced a conflict of interest as his daughter worked for Democratic politicians.
The judge has gagged me and I’m not allowed to talk about, I guess, his total conflict. He’s taken away my constitutional right to speak.
