Former President Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a $9,000 fine for repeatedly violating a court order that barred him from disparaging jurors and witnesses in his New York hush money trial. This fine was issued by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan at the start of the trial. The judge cited multiple violations of the gag order that had been put into effect previously. There will be a hearing on the issue of these breaches to determine if Trump should face additional fines.
Prior to issuing the fine, Judge Merchan allowed Trump to attend his son Barron’s graduation on May 17. The former president had been accused of violating the gag order 11 times by the prosecution, who claimed he had been talking about individuals associated with the trial. Trump’s lawyers argued that his statements were in response to political attacks against him.
Judge Merchan ruled that Trump cannot disparage jurors or witnesses in the criminal case, nor can he go after the families of court staff, including his own relatives and those of District Attorney Alvin Bragg. However, Trump is still allowed to criticize Bragg or the judge as much as he wants. Trump has been openly criticizing expected trial witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels through public comments and social media posts.
Although Cohen has also made comments about Trump, he is not subject to the court’s gag order and will not face reprimand. In response to Trump’s actions, the court ordered him to remove multiple posts from Truth Social and his campaign website that were deemed to be taking aim at the jury and at Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels. Jury members are meant to remain anonymous, but some prospective panelists expressed concerns about their identities being exposed during jury selection.
Prosecutors did not pursue jail time for Trump’s gag order breaches, but they did warn that future violations could lead to imprisonment. Trump has argued that the gag order is unfair and infringes on his constitutional right to freedom of speech. He has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of felony falsifying business records related to an alleged payment to Daniels as part of a conspiracy to conceal damaging stories before the 2016 presidential election.
