Judge again threatens Trump with arrest after former president again disobeyed gag order | World

Judge Juan Merchan, who is in charge of Donald Trump’s criminal trial over the payment of money to a porn actress, told the former president of the United States on Monday (5) that If he continues to violate the gag order imposed on him so that he does not speak publicly about the case, he may be arrested..

Merchan determined that the former president of the United States Contempt of court for the 10th time for violating a gag order and imposed the 10th fine of US$1,000 (about R$5,000).

Trump was criminally accused of falsifying accounting records to cover up a $130,000 payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels. The payment would have occurred in the final stretch of the 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels claims that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Trump has pleaded not guilty to having falsified accounting records and also denies having had sexual relations with Daniels.

The former president was banned from making public comments about jurors, witnesses and family members of the judge and prosecutors if the statements were intended to interfere in the case. However, he has already been fined ten times (each time $1,000) for violating this order.

Merchan said he considers prison time “really a last resort” for several reasons, including the disruption of the trial, the political implications of arresting a major presidential candidate before an election and the extraordinary security challenges of incarcerating a former president with a lifetime secret service.

But he said that Trump’s “continuous and willful” violations of the gag order amount to a “direct attack on the rule of law.”

“I do not want to impose a prison sanction and have done everything I can to avoid that. But I will if necessary”declared Merchan from the stand, in the absence of the jury.

New York law allows fines of up to $1,000 or a prison sentence of up to 30 days for violating a court-imposed gag order.

Merchan imposed a fine of US$1,000 this Monday (5) for an interview broadcast on April 22, in which the former Republican president said: “That jury was picked very quickly – 95% Democrats. The area is almost all Democratic.”

He concluded that other statements flagged by prosecutors that mentioned witnesses Michael Cohen and David Pecker did not violate the order.

Last week, Merchan fined Trump $9,000 for nine social media posts that he said violated the gag order.

Merchan spoke as Trump sat at the defendant’s table in the New York courtroom in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president.

Trump’s criminal trial over secret payments to a porn star, which is entering its 12th day, has already featured testimony from a former aide to the former president and a former tabloid editor about Trump’s actions during his first presidential bid to hush up stories of unflattering sexual behavior.

Trump has frequently complained that the gag order limits his ability to present his case to voters for a new bid for the White House.

Speaking to reporters before Monday’s session, Trump declined to comment about Cohen, his former lawyer who is expected to be a key witness in the trial.

However, he repeated allegations, without showing evidence, that New York prosecutors are working with U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to harm his political prospects and said Merchan faces a conflict of interest because his daughter worked for Democratic politicians. Trump’s lawyers tried unsuccessfully to have Merchan removed from the case.

“The judge has gagged me and I’m not allowed to talk about, I think, his total conflict,” Trump told reporters outside the courtroom. “He took away my constitutional right to speak.”

Donald Trump fined for offenses in criminal trial