Judge Threatens Trump With Jail For 10 Violations Of Gag Order

On Monday morning, Judge Juan Merchan held Donald Trump in contempt of court for violating a gag order that limits what he can say about people involved in the case for a tenth time – and warned him about possible jail time if he violates the order again.

Merchan said the former president violated the order ten times in recent weeks through posts on his social media platform, Truth Social, and campaign website. Trump’s comments targeted Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels, who are both critical witnesses in the Manhattan hush-money case.

Merchan fined Trump $10,000, or $1,000 for each violation, and demanded he delete all the posts.

“[Trump] violated the Order by making social media posts about known witnesses pertaining to their participation in this criminal proceeding and by making public statements about jurors in this criminal proceeding,” Merchan wrote in his order.

He also said that New York law does not allow him to impose a fine exceeding $1,000 per violation, which “unfortunately will not achieve the desired result in those instances where the [defendant] can easily afford such a fine.”

Merchan warned the former president: “Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment.”