Trump may be held in contempt Tuesday after hush-money DA cites at least 10 gag-order violations
Reuters/Victor J. BluerEU
- Manhattan prosecutors say Trump has violated his gag order at least 10 times.
- Trump may be found in contempt Tuesday morning for his posts on Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels.
- He faces fines of $1,000 per violation and even jail, though experts say the latter is less likely.
Donald Trump faces a contempt-of-court finding and thousands of dollars in fines if the judge in his New York hush-money trial finds him in contempt of court for repeatedly violating his gag order.
A contempt hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, the second day of testimony.
Openings were Monday. Prosecutors told a seven-man, five-woman jury that Trump conspired to falsify business documents to hide a $130,000 hush money payment that silenced porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election.
Trump's attorneys countered that the hush money was a legal expression of democracy.
Since the gag order took effect on April 1, Trump has persisted in attacking jurors and two key witnesses, Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels, prosecutors complained in seeking the GOP frontrunner be fined.
Under New York law, Trump faces a maximum of $1,000 per violation.
The judge could also pose any amount of jail time as a punishment and deterrent against future violations. But prosecutors have not asked that Trump be jailed.
Experts said a warning of jail is far more likely than even a brief stint behind bars.
Manhattan defense lawyer Murray Richman says he's had plenty of experience with gag orders in his 60 years in practice — during which he has repped organized crime figures "from every one of the Five Families," he told Business Insider.
"There is almost always a gag order to protect the parties, the witnesses, the case," he said.
The judge will not order Trump jailed even if he does find he repeatedly violated the gag, Richman predicted.
"It's like he's challenging the judge to do something," Richman said.
"But the reality is, if the judge incarcerates him, he becomes a hero. If he puts him in for five days, three days, one day — they'll publish that picture around the world. And then he becomes president."
Still, last week, prosecutors asked that the judge, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, warn Trump that future violations could get him thrown behind bars.
"We're asking the court to remind the defendant that further violations of the court's order could result in jail time," a prosecutor, Christopher Conroy, told the judge last Monday.
Trump's gag order bans Trump from making public statements about jurors and witnesses that could interfere with the trial.
Despite the gag, at least 10 attacks have been posted to Trump's Truth Social account and his official campaign website this month,
Most of the posts cited by prosecutors target Cohen, calling him a "serial perjurer."
One of Trump's gag-violating Truth Social posts went live shortly after 9 a.m. on April 15, the first day of jury selection, Conroy complained to the judge last week.
"It's entirely possible that it was done while in this courthouse," the prosecutor said.
Another of Trump's "Truths," from April 10, called Daniels and Cohen "two sleaze bags who have, with their lies and misrepresentations, cost our country dearly."
Other Truth Social posts cited by prosecutors attacked a former prosecutor on the case, and the jury pool in general.
On April 18, Trump quoted Fox News host Jesse Watters claiming that "Liberal Activists" were lying to the judge in order to infiltrate the jury.
"The defendant has demonstrated his willingness to flout the order," Conroy told the judge last week.
"He has attacked witnesses in the case in the past. He has attacked Grand Jurors and jurors," Conroy said.
Also last week, Merchan showed little patience for Trump lawyer Todd Blanche for claiming that Trump had to fight back against Cohen and Daniels.
"The two witnesses themselves have been talking about their testimony in this case, President Trump's ongoing reelection, and just generally disparaging threats constantly," Blanche complained.
"He's responding to salacious repeated attacks by these witnesses," the lawyer added.
Merchan did not sound sympathetic to Blanche's argument when he ordered the defense to respond in writing to the prosecution's claims.
"When you respond," the judge said, "direct me to any portion in the original gag order or the subsequent gag order that ways that there is an exception to the gag order if Mr. Trump feels he is being attacked."
The judge added, with some sarcasm, "I don't recall inserting that anywhere in either gag order."