Donald Trump was threatened with jail time and fined another $1,000 for again violating his gag order by the judge presiding over his Manhattan criminal case.
The gag order was put in place by Judge Manuel Merchan to prevent the former president from attacking jurors, witnesses and court staff in interviews and on social media. But Trump could not contain himself and on April 22 he said in a TV interview that the jury was stacked against him because they were mostly “Democrats.”
Before the jury was seated on Monday morning, Merchan spoke directly to Trump, fining him another $1,000 and saying that if he continues to violate the order.
“This court will have to consider a jail sanction,” he said. “At the end of the day, I have a job to do. Part of that job is to protect the dignity of the justice system.”
Trump’s offending comments came in an April 22 interview on Real America’s Voice’s show “Just the News No Noise.”
“You know [the judge is] rushing the trial like crazy. Nobody’s ever seen a thing go like this. That jury was picked so fast – 95% Democrats. The area’s mostly all Democrat. You think of it as a – just a purely Democrat area. It’s a very unfair situation that I can tell you,” Trump said.
The judge ruled those comments violated the gag order, warning Trump that he could jail him for “a direct attack on the rule of law.”
There are holding jail cells on the 15th floor of the Manhattan Supreme Court, where Trump’s case is being heard. But it is not known if he would be sent there or how much time Trump may spend in a cell if he violates the gag order again.
“Defendant violated the Order by making public statements about the jury and how it was selected,” Merchan wrote.
“In doing so, Defendant not only called into question the integrity, and therefore the legitimacy of these proceedings, but again raised the specter of fear for the safety of the jurors and of their loved ones.”
As the judge admonished Trump, the former president stared straight at him and then shook his head. Trump was previously fined $9,000 for violating the gag order with previous comments on social media and in press conferences and campaign events.
Prosecutors had alleged Trump violated the gag order on three other occasions, once in comments about Enquirer and AMI boss David Pecker and twice about his former fixer Michael Cohen. The judge ruled that the three other comments did not violate the order.
The former president has repeatedly railed against the gag order, saying on numerous occasions while arriving at court or at campaign events, “I am not able to speak.” Meanwhile Judge Merchan has emphasized the gag order does not take away Trump’s ability to testify and defend himself.
Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records related to the hush money deal. He has pleaded not guilty and denied having affairs with Daniels or McDougal.
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