Judge Juan Merchan warned Trump that if he continues to violate the judge's orders, he could impose “an incarceratory punishment.”

Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office accused Trump of violating the gag order numerous times since it went into effect.

The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money case on Tuesday held the former president in criminal contempt over a series of posts on Truth Social that he said violated a gag order barring any attacks on jurors and witnesses.

Judge Juan Merchan ruled Trump in contempt for nine violations of his gag order, with a fine of $1,000 for each instance. The order prohibits the former president from “making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding,” and “public statements about any prospective juror or any juror.”

Merchan had indicated on April 23 that he was not impressed by the arguments from the defense, telling one of Trump’s attorneys that he was “losing all credibility” when he suggested that Trump was exercising caution to comply with the gag order.

  • TWeaK@lemm.eeEnglish
    1122·
    2 months ago

    So he’s going to jail right? Held in jail until his next trial date, like what normally happens to people held in contempt?

    • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
      1181·
      2 months ago

      The maximum fine in NY for this is $1,000 per infraction. If it continues, the judge could sentence jail time but the fine would remain the same.

        • Telodzrum@lemmy.world
          36·
          2 months ago

          The judge addressed that concern specifically and said that when $1k isn’t sufficient to cow a contemnor, detention should be imposed.

          • meleecrits@lemmy.world
            372·
            2 months ago

            This is key. If he jailed him right away, his attorneys would call for a mistrial saying the judge was biased against him and they would probably succeed in getting the trial thrown out. It would still go on with another judge, but when the tactic is delay, they win.

            This is the first step towards jail for contempt. There can be no doubt Trump is maliciously violating the gag order.

            That said, I have little doubt some 11th hour fuckery will happen to prevent him from being jailed.

            • Daft_ish@lemmy.world
              41·
              2 months ago

              The Supreme Court will stop all of the democracy dismantling they are doing to say the do-nad can’t be imprisoned.

        • HocEnimVeni@lemmy.world
          322·
          2 months ago

          It’s like handicap parking spots, it’s basically just a super expensive reserved parking spot that every parking lot is legally required to have.

      • kent_eh@lemmy.caEnglish
        37·
        2 months ago

        And the judge acknowledged that point in his statement. Pointed out that other types of violations allow the guilty party’s wealth to be taken into account, but this charge doesn’t. Also pointed out that ignoring this sentence and doing future violations are mush more likely to lead to jail time.

        .

        Despite Trump’s whining about everything being unfair to him, and the public saying this is a slap on the wrist, the judge is taking the legally appropriate and legally required steps.

        • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
          26·
          2 months ago

          Correct. Merchan is smart to stay by the book in order to prevent providing cause for Trump’s defense to claim mistrial. The prosecution recommended the maximum fine, which was honored. Merchan then set the grounds for possible jail time for future infractions.

          • azimir@lemmy.ml
            1·
            2 months ago

            Isn’t there already another gag violation hearing on the docket for violations done while awaiting the first gag violation hearing and/or when we were awaiting the decision from the first violation hearing?

            • Furbag@lemmy.world
              3·
              2 months ago

              Yes. It’s unclear if the remaining 4 infractions that will be heard on Thursday will be grouped with these first 10 or if they will be ruled on separately. My bet is that since these happened before he issued his warning to Trump about future infractions resulting in incarceration, they will also carry the maximum $1000 penalty if found to have been violated. But from today on Trump is officially on notice that any violation of the gag order will be a grounds for imprisonment.

    • snooggums@midwest.socialEnglish
      352·
      2 months ago

      Yes and no.

      The amount is insignificant in the monetary sense, but shows the court can actually enforce a gag order. Hopefully further violations result in far more significant contempt punishments such as throwing his ass in jail, but it is a start.

      • plz1@lemmy.worldEnglish
        12·
        2 months ago

        It’s not enforcement if he can pay it with pocket change, it’s just a slight annoyance. Enforcement would be taking his means of breaking the gag order away (his access to social media).

    • FaceDeer@fedia.io
      422·
      2 months ago

      I know this is a popular thing to be angry about, but this time there was an actual fine. The consequences are being ratcheted up. The judge is just taking as much care as possible to make sure that all the "t"s are crossed and "i"s dotted along the way, otherwise he risks the whole trial being thrown out in the end. Look at some of the other high-profile “this rich guy’s guilty as sin but got off anyway” cases, they often boil down to some screw-up that doesn’t disprove the overall case but still invalidates the trial. Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby pop to mind.

        • FaceDeer@fedia.io
          341·
          2 months ago

          Yes, but as I explained, the judge is proceeding by steps up the ladder of consequences. The next time Trump violates a gag order he can now say “I have demonstrated that fines are insufficient, and so I’m moving on to jail time.”

        • Furbag@lemmy.world
          8·
          2 months ago

          Sadly, it’s a limitation of the legal system. The judge even admitted in his ruling on this that he acknowledges that the monetary punishment is inadequate considering Donald Trump’s wealth and status. He threatened jail time for future incidents.

          The point is that as much as any sane person wants to see Trump behind bars, if you just skip straight to locking him up, he will use that as grounds for a mistrial. I’d rather see justice done slowly, him given every warning and every opportunity to correct his bad behavior. Yes, it’s not fair that he gets treated with kid gloves time and time again while a street level drug dealer would just get held without bond, say nothing of what would happen if they were to be charged with criminal contempt, but without going through the whole process Trump will just use the temporary incarceration to paint himself as a victim of political persecution and pivot it to his advantage when he inevitably appeals the guilty verdict.

        • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
          2·
          2 months ago

          True. But if he continues to ignore the court despite the maximum non-custodial penalty the judge will have cause to have him detained.

          They probably can’t logistically put him in a cell, but they can probably give him house arrest and have the internet disconnected.

      • blazera@lemmy.worldEnglish
        45·
        2 months ago

        . The judge is just taking as much care as possible to make sure that all the "t"s are crossed and "i"s dotted along the way

        Ive heard this for every single trial trump has faced. This strategy isnt doing shit but making sure trump is comfortable before facing no consequences yet again.

          • Natanael@slrpnk.net
            7·
            2 months ago

            And unlike prior trials it started with fines rather than just warnings. The maximum allowed fine, even!

          • blazera@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            2 months ago

            I mean it should have been criminal consequences for the russian collusion and ukraine blackmail cases. But both times I was assured they’re just making sure they handle everything spotlessly to ensure he faces…and it’s gone.

            • thisbenzingring@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
              1·
              2 months ago

              The complexity is crazy. The federal system failing to hold him accountable because of politics is disgraceful. Thankfully he can’t avoid the States legal system that same way.

              • blazera@lemmy.worldEnglish
                2·
                2 months ago

                man even this exact case has warped beyond the boundaries of whats supposed to be law to protect Trump. We already got a guilty verdict that Trump ordered his lawyer to pay this girl, but only the lawyer faced consequences. this shit’s in real jeopardy of hitting up against statute of limitations for a crime committed in 2016.

  • rusticus@lemm.ee
    522·
    2 months ago

    $1000 fine per incident? Can Trump wipe his diapers with a thousand dollar bill before giving it to the court? When will this asshat have real accountability?

    • Otakulad@lemmy.world
      68·
      2 months ago

      Unfortunately, that is probably the statute. It sucks that we don’t scale up fines based on wealth.

      In Sweden (I think), speeding tickets are based on how much money you have. A person making $50k a year will pay a lower speeding ticket compared to a billionaire going the same speed.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
    421·
    2 months ago

    …for small change. This is not going to stop anything. It just gave his methods a (cheap) price tag.

    • FenrirIII@lemmy.world
      273·
      2 months ago

      It has to be reasonable and in line with practice. Trump is both like and unlike everyone else that’s gone through that courtroom. You have to treat him with kid gloves, let him keep pulling on the rope, then hang him with FAFO consequences fully justified and above reproach.

  • Splount@lemmy.worldEnglish
    37·
    2 months ago

    From what I have read, conditions of his release from the other trials include not committing ANY crime. Criminal contempt triggers this and Judge Chutkin is the most likely to jail him. Now…odds on that ACTUALLY happening…

  • Aniki 🌱🌿@lemm.eeEnglish
    313·
    2 months ago

    I’m sure he’s shaking in his boots.

    Mostly because he’s a fat worthless fuckstain, not because he’s scared of a 9,000 dollar fine.

    • dhork@lemmy.worldEnglish
      31·
      2 months ago

      I wonder if he’s gonna pull some sort of lame stunt, like pay it in pennies, or in 23 pairs of Trump Sneakers

    • kent_eh@lemmy.caEnglish
      22·
      2 months ago

      I’m sure he’s shaking in his boots.

      Seething with anger, more likely.

      • Bipta@kbin.social
        72·
        2 months ago

        It’s funny his supporters don’t realize they’re supporting their own demises as well. It’s perhaps the only silver lining to the nightmare.

          • Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world
            102·
            2 months ago

            Biden is not amazing, but he’s still at least doing his job. Trump wasn’t interested in actually doing the job, and wouldn’t have been capable of it if he was interested. Even putting aside Trumps corruption and collusion, he just wouldn’t be good at or capable of the job this time again. Even if he wasn’t specifically trying to end democracy and switch us to a dictatorship, he still just wouldn’t be a good president, as evidenced by the last time he was president. He isn’t capable of doing the job.

    • darkpanda@lemmy.ca
      10·
      2 months ago

      Eighty five American dollars for that? To what amounts to probably $3 in wholesale crap from a container drop?

  • WoahWoah@lemmy.world
    2215·
    2 months ago

    1K??? AHAHAHAHAHAAAHAHHHAAHAAAA

    OMG this is hilarious. I officially now have more contempt for this judge than I do for Trump. And that’s really saying something.

        • Furbag@lemmy.world
          191·
          2 months ago

          There is a possibility that he might be despite the monetary punishment. Trump just committed Criminal Contempt and has thereby violated his pre-trial release conditions on nearly all of his other trials. It’s within their rights now to lock him up until the other trials commence and conclude.

          I’m tempering my expectations here, because those judges would still have to hold a hearing to give Trump’s legal team a chance to argue that he did not violate his per-release agreement. Nevertheless, it’s on the table now, all that remains is finding a judge with enough of a spine to uphold the rule of law equally.

          Him being put on notice in this specific trial is a good thing. The next step after this is a jail cell if he keeps running his mouth. Hopefully that’ll mean this entire process will be a lot quieter now with fewer outbursts and interruptions. Although. a lot of pundits are speculating that Trump will start toeing the line now so that he only has one infraction of his gag order at a time to intentionally get thrown in jail so he can turn it into a political stunt and garner sympathy. It’s not clear if he’ll get the maximum 30 days or not, but it doesn’t really matter, he’ll try and spend as little time in jail as possible, but make it seem like he is a victim of political persecution.

    • Subverb@lemmy.world
      3·
      2 months ago

      It’s the maximum penalty, and the judge acknowledged that he had no control over it and that he wished it scaled with the contemnor’s ability to pay.

    • anon_8675309@lemmy.world
      53·
      2 months ago

      One way to look at it. Another is that Trump is not being treated any different than someone else when it comes to the fine. If he keeps doing it and the judge locks him up, everyone knows the judge was fair.

    • SuiXi3D@fedia.io
      17·
      2 months ago

      It’s the legal maximum fine for this, and there are still three other charges that will be discussed this week. It’s very much possible that Trump may see the inside of a jail cell, but that remains to be seen.

      • FaceDeer@fedia.io
        6·
        2 months ago

        And even though it seems like a tiny slap on Trump’s tiny wrist, it’s still an escalation. So next time Trump flagrantly violates gag orders the judge can escalate more. If there’s an appeal it’ll be important to be able to show the judge didn’t jump straight to the harshest penalties.

    • Chozo@fedia.io
      6·
      2 months ago

      Let’s be real, that’s probably a lot for Trump right now, too. The man’s broke.

      • Cubes@lemm.ee
        1·
        2 months ago

        His stake in his “media” company is (nonsensically) still worth billions of dollars right now. He probably won’t be able to cash all of that out if he wanted to, but he is definitely not broke.

    • Grobmobularb@lemmy.world
      5·
      2 months ago

      I’m sure Trump doesn’t pay anyways. He’ll use the money donated to him by Cleatus the slack jawed yokel.