Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office accused Trump of violating the gag order numerous times since it went into effect.
The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money case on Tuesday held the former president in criminal contempt over a series of posts on Truth Social that he said violated a gag order barring any attacks on jurors and witnesses.
Judge Juan Merchan ruled Trump in contempt for nine violations of his gag order, with a fine of $1,000 for each instance. The order prohibits the former president from “making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding,” and “public statements about any prospective juror or any juror.”
Merchan had indicated on April 23 that he was not impressed by the arguments from the defense, telling one of Trump’s attorneys that he was “losing all credibility” when he suggested that Trump was exercising caution to comply with the gag order.
It’s the legal maximum fine for this, and there are still three other charges that will be discussed this week. It’s very much possible that Trump may see the inside of a jail cell, but that remains to be seen.
And even though it seems like a tiny slap on Trump’s tiny wrist, it’s still an escalation. So next time Trump flagrantly violates gag orders the judge can escalate more. If there’s an appeal it’ll be important to be able to show the judge didn’t jump straight to the harshest penalties.