Trump, convicted of violating gag order, pleads guilty to judge

In the criminal trial in New York, Judge Juan Merchan convicted the suspect, Donald Trump, of violating the gag order. Trump must pay a $9,000 fine because his statements endanger people involved in the trial. If he did not delete two posts on his campaign website and seven posts on the social medium Truth Social within four hours, Merchan even threatened to send him to prison. Trump complied in a timely manner.

Trump’s complete lack of respect for the judges and prosecutors who handle his many trials, and the witnesses, has been a problem for some time. Weeks ago, Judge Juan Merchan, who is leading the criminal case into the accounting falsifications to cover up hush money for porn actress Stormy Daniels, imposed a “gag order” on Trump on people involved in the trial.

Trump cared little or nothing about that. For example, he spread all kinds of gossip and incorrect rumors about the judge’s wife and daughter without any hindrance. He was initially reluctant: Merchan had previously been chairman in a case involving Trump, knows his pappenheimer and does not want to allow him to have his circus.

He only protects the anonymity of the jury members like a lion. That was also the reason why Merchan organized a jury selection in a room that was as empty as possible: he wanted to avoid those people being identified. After all, in the current climate – with Trump cheering on his fans and constantly talking about a “witch hunt” – their safety would be at risk.

However, with the trial entering its third week, Merchan said he had had enough. In an eight-page verdict, Trump is sentenced to a $1,000 fine for nine different violations of the gag order. Never before has a (former) president been convicted of a criminal offense.

That $9,000 is a pittance for Trump, but Merchan immediately issued an ultimatum: if Trump did not delete the messages in question within a few hours, the judge threatened to sentence him to immediate prison.

“Remove immediately”

“The court will not condone any further intentional violations of its orders,” Merchan said. He said he is very aware of the right to free speech, but that he nevertheless demands that Trump follow his orders – to protect witnesses and jurors. He then gave him time until the early afternoon to remove the nine specific statements on his campaign website and on his own social medium Truth Social. “Otherwise, if necessary and appropriate, I will have to put you in prison.”

The nine messages were part of a package of twelve that the public prosecutor’s team had raised. It mainly concerns attacks against witnesses Stormy Daniels and Mike Cohen.

But while Merchan was thinking about this over the weekend, four new statements were added that, according to the public prosecutor’s office, blatantly ignore the ban. Merchan will speak out about this on Thursday.

Without mentioning his name, Merchan also told Cohen to take over. He constantly posts criticism of Trump, his former client. Merchan made it clear that anyone who deliberately provokes the accused also runs the risk that the judge will give Trump the right to respond again. Cohen has also stopped taunting Trump.

Free for Barron’s ‘graduation’

Meanwhile, the witness interviews continued, including the banker who opened the account in the name of Cohen (then Trump’s lawyer and fixer, now a witness against him) into which the hush money for Stormy Daniels was deposited, and Daniels’ lawyer.

This confirmed the entire story that was told last week by pulp publisher David Pecker, about the scandal news trade and how Pecker had to keep scandals about him out of the news on Trump’s behalf.

Judge Merchan also had a bit of good news for Trump on Tuesday. He will be allowed to attend the graduation ceremony of his youngest son Barron (18) in May. When Trump demanded this two weeks ago and Merchan refused him – it seemed like yet another maneuver to delay the matter – the former president screamed bloody murder. The fact that Merchan is now granting this favor seems to indicate that the judge is satisfied with how smoothly the process is going.