Donald Trump has been cited for contempt by the judge in his hush money trial in New York after making public critical comments about witnesses. The former president was fined $9,000.
“The Court finds Defendant in criminal contempt for willfully disobeying a lawful mandate of this Court … on nine separate occasions,” Justice Juan Merchan wrote in his ruling.
Prosecutors, the judge ruled, had met the burden of proof for violating the gag order in nine of the 10 posts they cited on Truth Social and the Trump campaign website. Trump has been ordered to not make any statements about likely witnesses, prosecutors, the court staff or the family of court staff. Trump has repeatedly called the gag order unfair.
Merchan addressed those criticisms in his ruling.
“This Court is keenly aware of, and protective of, Defendant’s First Amendment rights, particularly given his candidacy for the office of President of the United States,” he wrote. “It is critically important that Defendant’s legitimate free speech rights not be curtailed, that he be able to fully campaign for the office which he seeks and that he be able to respond and defend himself against political attacks. For that reason, this Court exercised discretion when it crafted the Expanded Order and delayed issuing it until the eve of trial. … It is of utmost importance to this Court that the Expanded Order not be used as a sword instead of a shield by potential witnesses.”
Of course, $9,000 is basically pocket change for Trump, but the court noted that was the maximum amount it was permitted to set the fine. Merchan, however, did warn Trump in his ruling that if he continues to violate the gag order, he could send Trump to jail and would not hesitate to do so.
“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 was also ordered to remove the seven Truth posts that were cited in the order, as well as two offending posts from his campaign website.
