(LibertySons.org) – Former President Donald Trump’s New York trial has taken a dramatic new turn after the judge overseeing his case threatened to jail him if he continues to violate a partial gag order. The restriction was put in place before the trial actually started and bans Trump from discussing key figures in the case, including witnesses and court officials. He’s already been fined for breaching it, but next time, he could face more serious consequences.
Judge Fines Trump, Issues Warning
Last April, Trump was arraigned on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, allegedly to conceal a payment of $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels to prevent her from going to the media about an affair she claims she had with Trump in 2006. His trial began on April 15; after jury selection, the prosecution is now presenting its case, which means it’s putting witnesses on the stand.
In previous court cases, Trump has often criticized prosecution witnesses on social media, so ahead of this trial, the Manhattan Attorney General’s office asked Judge Juan Merchan for a gagging order. Merchan seemed reluctant at first, but on March 26, he imposed one, restricting Trump from commenting about witnesses, court officials, their relatives or almost anyone else linked to the case, except for DA Alvin Bragg and Merchan himself.
In the first week of the prosecution case, prosecutors handed Merchan ten social media messages sent by Trump on either his Truth Social account or his presidential campaign page. They claimed the posts violated the gag order and asked the judge to hold Trump in contempt. On April 30, Merchan responded with a decision and order. In it, he found Trump guilty of contempt on nine counts and fined him $1,000 on each of them. He also ordered Trump to remove seven posts from Truth Social and two from his campaign website.
More seriously, Merchan also warned that if Trump continues to violate the gag order, he could impose a more severe punishment. Because the court has no discretion to increase the fine beyond $1,000 per count, and Trump “can easily afford such a fine,” he said the court will “consider whether, in some instances, jail may be a necessary punishment.”
The threat is clear –- if Trump continues to post comments about witnesses, Merchan could imprison him. Trump says the gag order is unconstitutional and is interfering with his election campaign. However, being in jail would be a much bigger problem with the November election looming around the corner.
~Here’s to Our Liberty!
Copyright 2024, LibertySons.org
