NY v Trump: Judge threatens jail time for ‘possibly the next president’ for future gag order violations

Judge Juan Merchan said on Monday he will consider a jail sentence for former President Trump if he continues to violate the gag order imposed upon him in his unprecedented criminal trial. 

Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump before the trial began, ordering that Trump cannot make or direct others to make public statements about witnesses with regard to their potential participation or about counsel in the case – other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg – or about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff.

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Former President Trump, left, attends the first day of his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on April 15, 2024. Judge Juan Merchan poses for a picture in his chambers on Thursday, March 14, 2024, in New York. (Angela Weiss/AFP via AP, POOL/AP)

Bragg and prosecutors have alleged more than a dozen violations of the gag order and have already fined the former president $9,000 for those violations. 

Merchan, on Monday, fined the former president $1,000 for an additional violation, but said it is “clear” that the fine — $1,000 per violation — is not effective.

The filing states that Trump is “hereby put on notice that if appropriate and warranted, future violations of its lawful orders will be punishable by incarceration.” 

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, right, makes opening statements as former President Trump watches with his attorney Todd Blanche before Justice Juan Merchan during Trump’s criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City on April 22, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. (REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg)

Merchan said Monday that, going forward, the court will have to consider “a jail sentence.” 

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“The last thing I want to consider is jail,” Merchan said. “You are [the] former president and possibly the next president.” 

Merchan, though, said that he worries about “that step” for Trump, pointing to Secret Service protection. 

Former President Trump leaves Trump Tower on his way to Manhattan criminal court on Monday, April 15, 2024, in New York City. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

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“The magnitude of that decision is not lost on me,” Merchan said. “Your continued willful violation of the court’s order…constitutes a direct attack…and will not be allowed to continue…It is not allowed to continue.” 

Trump and his defense attorneys have argued that the former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee should not be bound by the gag order, saying it violates his First Amendment rights as well as the First Amendment rights of his supporters.