The judge who presided over Donald Trump’s criminal case in New York City, Judge Juan Merchan (a Biden donor), announced on Monday that he would hold Trump in contempt of court for the 10th time in a row for violating gag orders and exercising First Amendment rights.
Merchan said he was willing to also consider prison for future offenses because the fines did not prevent Trump from publicly defending himself in the case.
Merchan fined Trump $1000 per statement for violating his gag order. Trump’s first statement was on April 22. He stated: “And when will they look at the lies that Cohen said in the previous case? He was caught lying in his last trial. ”
Merchan then cited an earlier statement in which Trump accused the judge of “rushing the trial” and pointed out “that jury was chosen so quickly – 95% Democrats.” “You think it is a purely democratic area. ”
Trump’s last statement was centered on Michael Cohen. Trump claimed that Cohen is “a convicted liar and has no credibility.”
Trump said nothing false.
Merchan stated in his order that “monetary penalties will not deter the defendant” from violating lawful orders issued by this Court.
Reuters brings you the latest.
Merchan stated, “Jail was his last resort, and would do everything to avoid it. ”
“I do not want to sentence anyone to jail and I have done everything possible to avoid this. Merchan said, while sitting on the bench, without the jury in attendance: “I’ll do it if necessary.”
Merchan said that jail time is “truly the last resort” because of many factors. These include disruption of the court proceedings, political implications for imprisoning an important presidential candidate just before an election, and the security challenges associated with locking up a former president who was a member of the Secret Service.
Merchan fined Trump $9,000 for nine social media posts that he found in violation of the gag orders.
Merchan was speaking while Trump sat at the defendant’s table in New York, in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president.
According to GWU law professor Jonathan Turley, Merchan made a mistake by allowing Bragg’s prosecutorial team headed by Michael Colangelo, formerly of the Biden Administration, to say unambiguously that Trump had been implicated in federal election law violations.
Turley replied, “I must admit that I believe the judge made an irreversible error. He could amend the sentence or change it in his instructions. The jury was repeatedly informed that there are federal election crimes here. This would suggest that Stormy’s payment violated federal laws. ”
Donald Trump’s trial over his non-disclosure agreement has now reached its twelfth day.
