Trump ordered to pay $9K for ‘repeated’ breaches of gag order in hush money case
Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a $9,000 fine for repeated breaches of a gag order at the New York hush money trial — and a Manhattan judge threatened to throw the former president behind bars for further infractions.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan at the start of trial Tuesday morning issued the fine to Trump, citing nine violations of his order issued before trial, barring the ex-commander-in-chief from disparaging witnesses and jurors.
Merchan agreed with prosecutors that Trump had infringed on the gag in seven posts on Truth Social and in two statements on his campaign site beginning just days before trial kicked off with jury selection on April 15.
The judge ordered the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to remove all nine statements by 2:15 p.m Tuesday.
In two orders from March and April, Merchan ruled the former president, 77, can’t disparage jurors or witnesses in the criminal case — or go after family of court staff, including his own relatives and those of District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Trump is still allowed to rip Bragg or Judge Merchan as much as he’d like.
“This court’s expanded order is lawful and unambiguous,” Merchan’s decision from Tuesday reads. “Defendant violated the order by making social media posts about known witnesses pertaining to their participation in this criminal proceeding and by making public statements about jurors in this criminal proceeding.”
On Thursday morning, there will be a hearing on the issue of gag order breaches to determine if the real estate tycoon should be fined even more.
Prior to issuing the fine, Merchan told Trump that he can attend his son Barron’s graduation on May 17.
The former president had been accused of violating the order 11 times by the prosecution for talking about those associated with the trial — including anticipated star witness Michael Cohen and likely witness Stormy Daniels.
His lawyers had pushed back, claiming the things Trump said were in defense of political attacks made against him.
But the Tuesday ruling said Trump was taking advantage of this argument.
“To allow such attacks upon protected witnesses with blanket assertions that they are all responses to ‘political attacks’ would be an exception that swallowed the rule,” the jurist wrote.
Still, one of the posts the DA’s office claimed was a violation of the gag, Merchan said, gave him “pause” and didn’t ultimately include in the list of breaches, finding it may have been a legitimate response to a political attack.
Trump has repeatedly slammed Cohen — his one time “fixer and lawyer — and Daniels in public comments and social media posts — as recently as on April 17.
Cohen has also made comments about Trump on X, but is not subject to the court’s gag order, so will not face reprimand.
Trump also — in what prosecutors called his most “disturbing post” — reposted a quote from a Fox News host which said “they are catching undercover liberal activists lying to the judge” in order to get on the jury.
The jury is meant to be anonymous, but several prospective panelists during jury selection said they were worried about their identities being exposed.
The 12 jurors and six alternates come from various backgrounds and have various jobs, but all swore under oath they are not involved in any political groups which are for or against Trump.
Courts can technically throw defendants in jail for up to 30 days for gag order breaches, but prosecutors did not ask to jail Trump.
However, they did ask the judge to warn him future gag order breaches could lead to jail time.
Trump “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,” Merchan wrote in Tuesday’s decision.
Trump has claimed that the gag order is “unfair” and has claimed the court is “taking away my constitutional rights to speak.”
He has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of felony falsifying business records.
The charges are for allegedly covering up a payment to Daniels — which prosecutors say was part of an illegal conspiracy alongside the National Enquirer magazine to hide damaging stories from voters before the 2016 presidential election.
