Judge Juan Merchan governed that Donald Trump has once again violated an order of silence in his criminal case – for the 10th time. The judge said he was fining the defendant a maximum of $1,000, but noted that such penalties do not deter Trump and therefore prison could be the former president and presumptive nominee’s next violation. Republican Party for President.
Mercan previously found Trump in contempt for nine violations in a decision of April 30. This latest decision rendered Monday, while testimony continues, arises from separate alleged violations concerning statements on key witnesses Michael Cohen and David Pecker, as well as on the jury. Merchan found Trump in contempt for one of the alleged violations, regarding the jury statement.
The violation stems from an April 22 interview in which Trump said the jury “was picked so quickly: 95% Democrats.” The region is mostly all-Democratic. You look at it as a…just a purely Democratic area. It’s a very unfair situation, I can tell you that. Although the judge disagreed with the prosecution on Cohen and Pecker’s statements, he said Trump’s jury statement called into question the integrity and legitimacy of the proceedings and also raised the specter fear for the safety of jurors and their loved ones.
Merchan pointed out in his previous ruling that the $1,000 fine per violation — the maximum fine allowed by law — was relatively low. But he warned in that decision that prison could be the next step for the former president. At May 2 hearingthe prosecution said it was not yet seeking prison so as not to disrupt the proceedings.
Because the prosecution was not seeking jail and the violation at issue occurred before Merchan’s April 30 jail warning ruling, Merchan only imposed the fine this time as well. I predicted this disappointing result for the temporal reason noted by Merchan. But the outcome of this latest ruling more firmly poses the question of what Merchan will do if Trump violates the gag order again.
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This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
