One day after a judge warned Donald Trump that further violations of his gag order could land the presumed Republican presidential candidate in jail, Trump seemed to test those limits with a post on Truth Social.
The post, which was put up this morning briefly before being deleted, saw Trump once again targeting Judge Juan Merchan. Among Trump’s complaints Tuesday were that prosecutors were not telling his defense attorneys which witnesses they planned to call until the day before.
“I have just recently been told who the witness is today. This is unprecedented, no time for lawyers to prepare,” Trump wrote in the now-deleted post. “No Judge has ever run a trial in such a biased and partisan way. He is CROOKED & HIGHLY CONFLICTED, even taking away my First Amendment Rights. Now he’s threatening me with JAIL, & THEY HAVE NO CASE – This according to virtually all Legal Scholars & Experts! Why isn’t the Fake News Media reporting his Conflict?”
Trump was fined $1,000 on Monday for previous violations of his gag order. That followed last week’s fines of $9,000 for posts on Truth and the Trump campaign website.
“It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent. Therefore, going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” Merchan said before jurors were brought into the courtroom Monday. “The last thing I want to do is to put you in jail…[but] I will, if necessary.”
In his first contempt ruling, Merchan also hinted he would consider jail time (which can last for up to 30 days per violation) if Trump continued to ignore the order.
“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 incarceration punishment,” he wrote.
Trump, per the court’s gag order, is not permitted to speak or post about witnesses in the case, court staff, their families, or attorneys. Trump, at one point before the order was expanded, criticized the judge’s daughter, who has done work with a Democratic political firm.
