Former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial continued on Monday with the usual fireworks after Judge Juan Merchan issued a dire warning to the former president.
Prosecutors last week argued that Trump had violated Merchan’s gag order again and that the former president should be held in contempt for an additional four violations since the start of the trial, according to the Daily Caller.
Omg. Judge Merchan found Trump in violation of his gag order for saying in an interview that Manhattan is a solid blue area
Trump didn't even attack any jurors–he simply stated an objective fact
Merchan wants to stop Trump from informing the people that this trial is rigged pic.twitter.com/qzs7m9l5MM
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) May 6, 2024
Merchan, who had previously fined Trump $9,000 for violating his gag order, ruled in favor of prosecutors. The judge also threatened that he would have to consider jailing Trump if he violated the order again.
The judge insisted that the fine he handed to Trump was not serving as a “deterrent,” hence he would have to consider jailing the former president.
We are six months out of the general election.
Judge Merchan has just held Donald Trump in contempt (for the 10th time) for violating the gag order.
He actually threatened Trump with jail time…
— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) May 6, 2024
“Going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” Merchan said.
While Merchan admitted that he understood the chaos that could erupt from jailing Trump, the judge maintained that he had to do his job nonetheless.
“As much as I do not want to impose a jail sanction…, I want you to understand I will. But at the end of the day, I have a job to do and part of that job is to maintain the dignity of the justice system,” the judge said.
Democrats have gagged both candidates. They won’t let Trump talk because he tells the truth and they won’t let Biden talk because he tells stories about his uncle being eaten by cannibals. pic.twitter.com/tWjbFArTe0
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) May 6, 2024
Former United States Attorney Brett Tolman told Fox News that he believes the judge is boxing himself into a corner with his latest threats.
“The judge is boxing himself in his own corner at this point,” Tolman said. “He’s going to be the one that is going to threaten and he is going to fine this limited fine and he’s doing it with the underlying order being unconstitutional. How does anybody that’s in the position of Donald Trump, who knows it’s an unconstitutional order, how does he, with all of his ability to communicate to the American people, how does he not make comments, how does he not talk about this case? He knows it’s going to be an issue on appeal. But it’s the judge who’s now put himself in this position and he’s going to have to put him in jail because he’s now threatened it. Otherwise, he looks feckless and the president gets stronger.”
