At a Tuesday morning hearing, the Manhattan district attorney’s attorneys will try to persuade the court supervising Donald Trump’s criminal hush money case to find the former president in contempt for persistently breaking the case’s restricted gag order.
The restricted gag order forbids statements about any party other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg regarding witnesses, jurors, and attorneys involved in the case. According to the prosecution, Trump broke this order at least ten times this month. In addition to fining Trump $10,000, they requested that Judge Juan Merchan find Trump in contempt of court.
The accused has indicated that he is prepared to disobey the injunction. Prosecutor Christopher Conroy informed Merchan last week that he had previously insulted witnesses in the case. We are requesting that the court notify the defendant that additional court orders could result in jail time.
In order to improve his chances of winning the 2016 presidential election, the former president’s then-attorney Michael Cohen arranged a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Cohen is now accused of falsifying business records to conceal this payment. The former president is on trial for these felonies in New York.
Prosecutors cited seven occasions this month in which Trump mentioned Cohen or Daniels in a social media post, two occasions in which his campaign website repeated information about Cohen, and one in which Trump implied that “undercover liberal activists” were attempting to infiltrate the jury in the case.
Five of the ten alleged violations include incidents where Trump or his campaign republished a New York Post piece suggesting that Michael Cohen’s testimony—a self-described “serial perjurer”—was the key component of the case.
Conroy stated that the court should remind Mr. Trump that, like all criminal defendants, he is subject to supervision by the court and, in particular, this court’s duty to protect the integrity of the criminal justice system.
Prosecutors flagged three of Trump’s social media statements last Monday, and they initially asked for a $3,000 fine and a finding of contempt. Seven more infractions had been found by prosecutors by Thursday, some of which Trump had appeared to post from the courtroom while he was on trial.
It’s absurd. It must end said Conroy.
Even though the prosecution stated that they will ask for monetary fines during Tuesday’s hearing, they left open the possibility of harsher sanctions, such as jail time, should Trump persistently disobey the order.
The former president was defending himself against the possible witnesses, according to Trump’s attorneys, who claimed that the prosecution had not shown that the posts were deliberate breaches of the gag order. They told Merchan of this.
Defense lawyer Todd Blanche said last week that it’s not like President Trump is going out and attacking specific people. He is answering continuous, slanderous attacks from these witnesses.
Additionally, defense attorneys claimed that the gag order, which forbids Trump from speaking in public about potential witnesses or their involvement in the case, is ambiguous and permits Trump to make “political” remarks. Additionally, he contended that since at least four of the alleged infractions are reposts of the same message, they ought to be dismissed.
Emil Bove, the defense counsel, stated last week that “the Gag Order did not prohibit President Trump from responding to political attacks, and we submit that’s what he is doing in these posts.”
Two more gag orders have been placed on Trump in connection with his legal cases: one was a limited order in his New York civil fraud case, which he twice broke, and the other was imposed by the court in charge of his federal election interference case. The appellate courts have upheld the validity of the gag orders in both instances.
The stakes are high for today’s hearing since Trump has compared himself to Nelson Mandela in recent weeks when discussing violations of the restricted gag order in his criminal case in New York. Prosecutors are hoping that this comparison would stop Trump from attacking witnesses.
Trump stated on social media earlier this month, “I will gladly become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela — It will be my GREAT HONOR if this Partisan Hack intends on putting me in the ‘clink’ for speaking the open and obvious TRUTH.”
The first witness called by the Manhattan district attorney will testify during the hearing, which coincides with the criminal trial’s increasing stakes. Some of Trump’s posts on Cohen and Daniels, according to the prosecution, could be seen as an attempt to scare away possible witnesses.
During last week’s jury selection, Merchan also chastised Trump for what she saw to be intimidating audible “muttering” during a prospective juror’s speech.
He addressed the jury member directly. I’m not going to put up with that. No juror in this courtroom will be intimidated by me. Judge Merchan said, “I want that to be absolutely clear.”
Trump repeated his criticism of Cohen during his remarks at the end of Monday’s sessions, suggesting that the impending contempt hearing has not deterred him.
When will all the lies that Cohen told during the previous trial be examined? In his previous trial, he was found to have lied. Trump claimed that he was exposed for lying outright.
Read More: Trump arrives at court for hush money trial, with opening statements set to commence shortly
