Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday was fined and held in contempt of court by Judge Juan Merchan for what he said were violations of a gag order prohibiting him from discussing certain individuals involved in the so-called “hush-money” trial.
Prosecutors had sought $1,000 fines for about a dozen Truth Social posts that the former president had made in relation to the case, while Judge Merchan fined him $9,000 for nine posts. He also ordered President Trump to remove seven “offending posts” from Truth Social and two “offending posts” from his 2024 campaign website by 2:15 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
If he doesn’t remove the posts or continues to commit alleged “willful violations,” he could face “incarceratory punishment,” suggesting possible jail time, the judge’s order said.
According to the order, the “defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment.”
The judge also suggested that he wanted to fine President Trump more but noted that state law limits fining him a maximum of $1,000 per violation.
Such an amount “may suffice in most instances to protect the dignity of the judicial system, to compel respect for its mandates and to punish the offender for disobeying a court order, it unfortunately will not achieve the desired result in those instances” where a person held in contempt “can easily afford such a fine,” he wrote.
Judge Merchan wrote it would be preferable if he could impose “a fine more commensurate with the wealth” of the person being fined. “Because this Court is not cloaked with such discretion, it must therefore consider whether in some instances, jail may be a necessary punishment,” he added.
The judge also found that President Trump’s April 10 post referring to former lawyer Michael Cohen and porn performer Stormy Daniels as “sleaze bags” was not a gag order violation. He said President Trump’s contention that he was responding to previous posts by Mr. Cohen “is sufficient to give” him pause “as to whether the people have met their burden” as to that post.
But nine other posts “attack the credibility of arguably two of the more high-profile witnesses in this case,” the judge wrote.
The former president and his lawyers had argued that Judge Merchan’s gag order, which prohibits the former president from speaking about two potential witnesses and several other individuals, violated his First Amendment rights. Further, they have argued that because he is the presumptive Republican nominee for president for the 2024 election, he should enjoy broad latitude to speak about political issues.
So far, the judge has rejected their arguments. Judge Merchan expanded the gag order several weeks ago to also prevent the former president from speaking about his daughter, who is a Democratic Party consultant. President Trump has said the judge is biased and working in concert with Democrats to block him from getting reelected.
At the start of the trial, Judge Merchan also told the former president that he has to remain in court while the trial is ongoing, warning that “there will be an arrest” if he doesn’t comply. The former president took issue with that directive and has said it’s election interference because he should instead be campaigning in battleground states like Pennsylvania.
But in a small win for the former president, Judge Merchan wrote that the criminal trial will not be held on May 17 so the former president may attend his son Barron’s graduation from high school. “I don’t think the May 17 date is a problem, so Mr. Trump can certainly attend that date, attend his son’s graduation,” he said.
Court was resuming Tuesday with Gary Farro, a banker who helped Mr. Cohen open accounts, including one that Mr. Cohen used to send a payment to Ms. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. She alleged a 2006 affair with President Trump, which he denies.
Jurors so far have heard from two other witnesses. The former president’s ex-assistant, Rhona Graff, recounted that she recalled once seeing Ms. Clifford at President Trump’s office suite in Trump Tower and said the performer may have been a potential contestant for one of President Trump’s “Apprentice”-brand shows. Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker laid out how he agreed to serve as the 2016 campaign’s “eyes and ears” by helping to squelch unflattering rumors.
Outside the courtroom Tuesday, President Trump criticized prosecutors again. “This is a case that should have never been brought,” he said.
“Our country’s going to hell and we sit here day after day after day, which is their plan, because they think they might be able to eke out an election,” he said last week in the courthouse hallway.
In the meantime, President Trump has held several campaign-related stops in New York City, including visiting a bodega in which a clerk defended himself from an attacker with a knife. He also visited a construction site and met with unionized workers.
