Former president Donald Trump was fined again and held in criminal contempt for violating a gag order for the 10th time – with possible jail time being threatened — as week 4 of Trump’s hush-money trial got underway on Monday. Violations of the gag order are punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, by jail time of up to 30 days – or both. The gag order blocks the defendant from speaking out about potential witnesses and most people in or associated with the court or the New York district attorney’s office.
Per The Associated Press, the $1,000 fine imposed Monday marks the second time since the trial began last month that Trump has been sanctioned for violating the gag order. He was fined $9,000 last week, $1,000 for each of nine violations. The latest violation stems from an April 22 interview with television channel ‘Real America’s Voice’ in which Trump criticized the speed at which the jury was picked and claimed, without evidence, that it was stacked with Democrats.
Judge Juan Merchan told Trump on Monday: “going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction. Mr. Trump, it’s important you understand, the last thing I want to do is put you in jail. You are the former president of the United States and possibly the next president as well”, but it appears to the judge that the continuous flow of $1,000 fines “are not serving as a deterrent.” Merchan added: “rhe magnitude of this decision is not lost on me but at the end of the day I have a job to do. So as much as I don’t want to impose a jail sanction … I want you to understand that I will if necessary and appropriate.”
Trump has repeatedly called Merchan “conflicted” as he criticized the judge just before going in this court in the morning, telling reporters outside: “It’s a ridiculous case, I did nothing wrong. And yet the judge gags me and I’m not allowed to talk about, I guess, his total conflict.”
In a statement, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung called the gag order “unconstitutional and un-American”, adding: “President Trump has not violated this wrongful edict by a partisan operative. The threat to throw the 45th President of the United States and the leading candidate in the 2024 Presidential Election in jail for exercising his First Amendment rights is a Third World authoritarian tactic typical of Crooked Joe Biden and his comrades.”
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