President Trump could go to jail if Judge Juan Merchan rules him in contempt of court in his New York City bookkeeping trial.
When court resumed on Thursday after a day off, New York City prosecutors argued that former President Trump had broken the gag. Merchan imposed the order in March and later expanded it to keep Trump quiet about the judge's daughter who works to elect Democrats, including Joe Biden. She has used the trial as a fundraiser for her Democrat clients.
Prosecutors claim that Trump has broken the gag order ten times and have asked for higher fines and other punishment for him. They want to raise the fine for each offense from $1,000 to $3,000. The judge will hold a hearing on the gag order on Tuesday.
The prosecutors include Matthew Colangelo, a former high-ranking federal Department of Justice lawyer under both Biden and Obama who was tasked to help the "Get Trump" New York Attorney General Letitia James's "fraud" case. He was then detailed to D.A. Alvin Bragg's prosecution, which is why Trump calls him a "Biden thug." A former Hillary Clinton/DNC attorney now runs Bragg's office.
Related: Jurors Are Dropping Like Flies in Trump NYC Case
How convenient is it to keep your Republican opponent quiet during a campaign?
Constitutional attorney, radio, and TV host Mark Levin is one of many experts who believe the gag order is not only unconstitutional but is official campaign interference.
The judge's unconstitutional gag order is being used by rogue Bragg to file endless contempt motions against Trump. Meanwhile, Trump is off the campaign trail while Biden is moving in and out of battleground states.
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) April 18, 2024
The campaign interference is now in full bloom.
Prosecutors say that since the trial has commenced, Trump has taken verbal punches at Michael Cohen and Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels.
Trump is prohibited from putting their names in his mouth as well as the names of any other witnesses or attorneys involved in the case, even though there is no gag order preventing them from talking trash about the former president. The order was expanded to include the judge's political activist daughter.
Mumbling in court on Thursday earned Trump a sharp rebuke from the judge.
Prosecutors complained that this post quoting Fox News's Jesse Watters violated the gag order. Watters said, "They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury"
The former president also has posted several complaints about this case being lawfare.
Related: Why the Fix Is in for Trump
Prosecutors have also complained about this post calling Michael Cohen a "serial perjurer," which is a quote from another judge:
Trump has posted several times about this case being lawfare, which of course is exactly what it is. If Trump weren't running for office, this case wouldn't have been brought.
Constitutional expert and Article III founder Mike Davis said, "This is clearly an illegal, unconstitutional gag order here." He told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that gag orders are meant to protect defendants, not punish them. "We have gag orders to protect defendants who are going through the process." He said that a gag order has strict "time, place, and manner restrictions to protect criminal defendants and their constitutional rights." Davis said the gag order was "UnAmerican" and "breathtaking."
This is clearly an illegal, unconstitutional gag order here.
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) April 17, 2024
For Democrat judges like Judge Juan Merchan to put a gag order on a criminal defendant is truly un-American.
If there is anyone on the planet who must have the constitutional right to speak out about the judge, the… pic.twitter.com/3VtXkMLRKF
Attorney Sol Weisenberg said the gag order "was clearly overbroad and violates the First Amendment." He says that even if the gag order is unconstitutional, there's caselaw that argues Trump still can't violate it. He told Ingraham that it "impinges on Trump's core First Amendment rights to comment on the case. No, he can't intimidate a juror...or intimidate a witness but the idea that Michael Cohen can be out there talking about the case on TV and that former President Trump can't comment about it when his liberty is at stake to me is a classic First Amendment problem."
Trump could go to jail for 30 days and/or be fined for each contempt charge. He's previously been criticized by prosecutors for "calling ex-attorney Michael Cohen a 'disgraced attorney and felon' on Saturday and referring to Cohen and adult film star Stormy Daniels as 'sleaze bags' in a Thursday Truth Social post, and suggested Trump may have attacked Cohen again Monday morning, marking a fourth violation."
The president has also been ordered to spend every day in court and has been told he may not have a day off to go to his son Barron's high school graduation or he'll be held in contempt — something he also posted about.
Trump attorney Emil Bove said that the social media posts didn't constitute "willful violations" of the gag order. He argued that reposting other people's posts shouldn't be a violation. Indeed, he said Trump's posts "highlight some of the order's 'ambiguities.'"
Bove said his criticism of Cohen was a direct result of Cohen's attacking his candidacy, so Trump's posts were campaign-related.
Trump knows this gag order is unconstitutional. He's daring them to jail him, just as J.K. Rowling dared Scottish police to arrest her for breaking their country's gag order (speech code).
We'll find out the next chapter at the hearing on Tuesday.
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