Trump may be held in contempt Tuesday after hush-money DA cites at least 10 gag-order violations
- Manhattan prosecutors say Donald Trump has violated his gag order at least 10 times.
- Trump may be found in contempt on Tuesday over his posts about Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels.
Donald Trump faces thousands of dollars in fines if the judge in his New York hush-money trial finds him in contempt of court for repeatedly violating his gag order.
A contempt hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, the second day of testimony.
Openings were on Monday. Prosecutors told a jury of seven men and five women that Trump conspired to falsify business documents to hide a $130,000 hush-money payment that silenced the porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election.
Trump's attorneys countered that the hush money was a legal expression of democracy.
In seeking the GOP frontrunner be fined, prosecutors complained that since the expanded gag order took effect on April 1, Trump had persisted in attacking jurors and two key witnesses, Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels.
Under New York law, Trump faces a maximum of $1,000 per violation.
The judge could also impose jail time as a punishment and deterrent against future violations. But prosecutors have not asked that Trump be jailed.
Legal experts say a warning of jail is far more likely than even a brief stint behind bars.
Murray Richman, a Manhattan defense lawyer, told Business Insider he'd had plenty of experience with gag orders in his 60 years in practice, during which he'd repped organized-crime figures "from every one of the Five Families."
"There is almost always a gag order to protect the parties, the witnesses, the case," he said.
Richman predicted that the judge wouldn't order Trump to be jailed even if he did find that the former president repeatedly violated the gag order.
"It's like he's challenging the judge to do something," Richman said.
"But the reality is, if the judge incarcerates him, he becomes a hero. If he puts him in for five days, three days, one day — they'll publish that picture around the world. And then he becomes president."
Still, last week, prosecutors asked that the judge, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, warn Trump that future violations could get him thrown behind bars.
"We're asking the court to remind the defendant that further violations of the court's order could result in jail time," a prosecutor, Christopher Conroy, told the judge last week.
Trump's gag order bans Trump from making public statements about jurors and witnesses that could interfere with the trial.
Despite the gag, at least 10 attacks have been posted to Trump's Truth Social account and his official campaign website this month,
Most of the posts cited by prosecutors target Cohen, calling him a "serial perjurer."
Conroy complained to the judge last week that one of Trump's gag-violating Truth Social posts went live shortly after 9 a.m. on April 15, the first day of jury selection.
"It's entirely possible that it was done while in this courthouse," the prosecutor said.
Another of Trump's "Truths," from April 10, called Daniels and Cohen "two sleaze bags who have, with their lies and misrepresentations, cost our country dearly."
Other Truth Social posts cited by prosecutors attacked a former prosecutor on the case and the jury pool in general.
On April 18, Trump quoted the Fox News host Jesse Watters claiming that "Liberal Activists" were lying to the judge in order to infiltrate the jury.
"The defendant has demonstrated his willingness to flout the order," Conroy told the judge last week.
"He has attacked witnesses in the case in the past. He has attacked grand jurors and jurors," Conroy said.
Also last week, Merchan showed little patience when the Trump lawyer Todd Blanche said Trump had to fight back against Cohen and Daniels.
"The two witnesses themselves have been talking about their testimony in this case, President Trump's ongoing reelection, and just generally disparaging threats constantly," Blanche complained.
"He's responding to salacious repeated attacks by these witnesses," the lawyer added.
Merchan didn't sound sympathetic to Blanche's argument when he ordered the defense to respond in writing to the prosecution's claims.
"When you respond," the judge said, "direct me to any portion in the original gag order or the subsequent gag order that says that there is an exception to the gag order if Mr. Trump feels he is being attacked."
The judge added, with some sarcasm, "I don't recall inserting that anywhere in either gag order."
Correction: April 23, 2024 — An earlier version of this story included incorrect information about the amount of jail time the judge could impose on Trump for violating the gag order. The information has been removed.