Judge Juan Merchan weighs gag order fines against Donald Trump in hush money trial
Judge Juan Merchan will hear arguments Tuesday about whether to punish former President Donald Trump for alleged violations of his gag order by commenting on witnesses expected at his New York hush money trial.
Prosecutors asked Merchan on April 15 to fine Trump $3,000 for three alleged violations of his gag order in the case with social media posts criticizing potential witnesses in the case, former lawyer Michael Cohen and porn actress Stormy Daniels.
By Thursday, prosecutors counted seven more alleged violations. And on Monday, Trump blasted Cohen again in a speech to reporters in the hallway outside the courtroom.
“He got caught lying,” Trump said of Cohen. “Pure lying.”
Trump has been fined for violating gag orders before
Merchan scheduled a hearing Tuesday for prosecutors to urge him to find Trump in contempt and fine him. But Trump has argued a First Amendment right to publicly criticize witnesses and others involved in the case against him, particularly as he campaigns for president.
If Merchan fines Trump, he will be following Judge Arthur Engoron’s $15,000 fines in Trump’s civil fraud trial for falsely accused Engoron's law clerk of being in a romantic relationship with a prominent Democratic lawmaker. While the fines are tiny for a billionaire, if Merchan feels he is violating the order flagrantly and repeatedly, the penalties for contempt of court could eventually escalate to putting Trump behind bars before the jury renders a verdict in his case.
Trump promoted the drama in a fundraising email Monday, proclaiming "all hell breaks loose" with the hearing on the gag order and an all-caps warning. "I could be thrown in jail at that very moment!" said the message from Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee.
Merchan initially ordered Trump not to comment on potential witnesses or court staffers, which was similar to orders in Trump’s civil fraud trial and for his federal election interference charges.
Merchan expanded the order when Trump commented on the judge’s daughter in arguing Merchan should be removed from the case. Merchan refused to withdraw.
Trump blasts Cohen and Stormy Daniels on social media
Trump has continued to blast Cohen and Daniels on social media, two witnesses at the heart of the case.
Cohen has testified he paid Daniels $130,000 to remain silent before the 2016 election about her claim she had sex with Trump in 2006 while he was married to Melania Trump.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to falsifying business records to hide his reimbursement of Cohen. Trump has argued he was paying Cohen a legal retainer and wasn’t aware of the payment to Daniels, but Cohen says there was no retainer.
Cohen has pleaded guilty and was imprisoned for charges including a campaign finance violation based on the payment to Daniels. He also pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a Trump real estate project in Moscow, so Trump has called him a liar for years. Ironically, that lie was told to protect Trump.
Trump attacks Cohen's credibility
Outside the courtroom Monday, Trump said Cohen “wasn’t very good” at being a lawyer and added: “The things he got in trouble for were things that had nothing to do with me."
While testifying at Trump’s civil fraud trial last year, Cohen denied committing tax evasion despite having pleaded guilty to it. In trying to get released early from prison, Cohen acknowledged giving his lawyer arguments with fake legal citations generated by artificial intelligence.
“When are they going to look at all the lies that Cohen did in the last trial?” Trump asked. “He got caught lying in the last trial.”
Prosecutors initially asked Merchan to fine Trump for three social media posts because of concern he could intimidate witnesses from testifying. Examples included on April 13, when Trump asked whether Cohen was “prosecuted for LYING?” A judge had ruled Cohen wouldn't be penalized. On April 10, Trump called Cohen and Daniels each a “sleaze bag.” More recent posts called Cohen a serial perjurer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Judge weighs gag order fines in Trump hush money trial
