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The focus of Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial is expected to shift Thursday morning from what witnesses are saying in the courtroom to what the former president has said when he leaves.
Two days after Judge Juan Merchan held Trump in criminal contempt for nine violations of the limited gag order that prohibits statements about witnesses and others involved in the case, the judge is holding a hearing Thursday to determine whether to hold Trump in contempt again and fine him $4,000 for making four additional out-of-court statements about the jury and known witnesses in the trial.
Merchan on Tuesday fined the former president $1,000 for each of the nine violations — the maximum allowable fine under state law — and threatened that future violations could result in jail time.
Trump is on trial for allegedly falsifying business records to hide the reimbursement of a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election. The former president has denied all wrongdoing.
The four additional alleged gag order violations include statements about Cohen, the jury, and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who testified across four days last week.
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“That jury was picked so fast — 95% Democrats. The area’s mostly all Democrat. You think of it as a — just a purely Democrat area,” Trump told Real America’s Voice last Monday in an interview that prosecutors say violated the gag order.
While the nine earlier statements were posted to Trump’s social media account or campaign website, the four additional alleged violations occurred during Trump’s remarks to the media, including one alleged violation that took place steps from the courtroom itself.
