Judge Merchan Rules Trump Violated Gag Order 9 Times, Warns That He Could Be Sent to Jail for Future Violations
AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, Pool
Judge Juan Merchan ruled Tuesday on the gag order against former President Donald Trump, finding that he violated the original gag order nine times. Trump was fined $1,000 per violation and ordered to take the offending social media posts down by 2:15 PM ET on Tuesday.
Trump was fined a total of $9,000 and ordered to take down seven “offending posts” from social media and two from his campaign web site. Merchan also warned that further violation may result in incarceration:
THEREFORE, 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.
Tuesday’s ruling does not apply to the alleged four new instances of possible violations that prosecutors raised in court on Thursday. A separate hearing is scheduled for May 2 to address those.
Merchan had instructed Trump not to publicly comment on court personnel or witnesses, and prosecutors argued Tuesday that he had done so on at least ten occasions. Eight violations, prosecutors argued, were committed by Trump in his Truth Social posts — in which he went after Merchan, his daughter, former lawyer and star witness for the prosecution Michael Cohen, and others.
The gag order issued by Merchan in late March specifically prohibits Trump from “making or directing others to make public statements about” potential witnesses in the case, the jurors, and the family members of the court staff or counsel in the case — among others, not including Merchan himself.
MSNBC’s Lisa Rubin reported that the Manhattan District Attorney’s office would ask for financial penalties first and jail if Trump continues to violate the gag order, writing on Twitter/X: “Manhattan DA’s office asks court to impose a $1k sanction for each of 3 prior posts, order him to take them down, and warn him that further violations will result in jail time. DA notes a 9:12 am post today, potentially made inside the courthouse, also violates the order.”
Trump has openly attacked Merchan, Cohen, and others multiple times on Truth Social and in interviews. The prosecution stated in their filing that Trump had violated the order ten times, eight times on Truth Social and twice in campaign emails.
On one occasion, Trump quoted Fox News host Jesse Watters, who commented on possible jurors in the trial. Last week, while leaving court, Trump attacked Cohen, calling him a “liar,” something he has repeated on Truth Social. Trump attacked Cohen again during a televised local news interview on Wednesday. He also attacked Merchan’s daughter by name in a Truth Social post complaining about the gag order.
During the hearing on the gag order last Tuesday, Merchan admonished Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, who attempted to justify several of Trump’s social media posts that the prosecution alleged violated the gag order, telling Blanche: “You’re losing all credibility with the court.” The comment came in response to Blanche’s claim that his client was trying to comply with the gag order.
Blanche tried to argue that Trump’s posts were simply political attacks and that Trump was only trying to defend himself against his political opponents. When he could not present “specific” examples of political attacks, Merchan became impatient, according to reporters in the courtroom, and told Blanche: “You’ve presented nothing. I’ve asked you eight or nine times.”
Prosecutors alleged on Thursday that Trump had violated the gag order four more times since Tuesday’s hearing. The new allegations were “two separate attacks” on Cohen, a comment in which Trump claimed the jury was “95 percent Democrats,” and Trump’s remarks while visiting a construction site in New York City calling witness David Pecker “a nice guy.” The comments were characterized by prosecutors as Trump sending a “message” Pecker and other witnesses: “Be nice. It’s a message to others.”
