Former President Donald Trump is fined $9,000 for violating a court-ordered gag order. That in itself is a first, but if Trump does not fold and quickly withdraws some messages, he will be sentenced to prison in a few hours.
Trump’s complete lack of respect for the judges and prosecutors who handle his many trials and the witnesses in those cases has been a problem for some time. Weeks ago, Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the criminal case into the accounting falsifications to cover up hush money for porn actress Stormy Daniels, imposed a ‘gag order’ on Trump (an order to remain silent) on people involved in the process.
Trump cares little or nothing about this: 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 chaired a case involving Trump and he knows his way around. He didn’t want to give him his circus.
Only the anonymity of the jury members protects Merchan like a lion. That was also the reason, for example, why he 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 inciting his fans and constantly talking about a witch hunt – their safety would be at risk.
Now that the trial is entering its third week (his second substantive), Merchan has had enough. In an eight-page verdict, Trump is sentenced to nine times $1,000 fines for various violations of the gag order after two messages in his campaign media and seven messages on Truth social, his social media network. That in itself is a first: never before has a (former) president been convicted of a criminal offense.
Judge Juan Merchan. — © ap
That $9,000 is a pittance for Trump, but Merchan also issued an ultimatum: if Trump does not delete the messages in question within a few hours (before 2:15 p.m. in New York, 8:15 p.m. in Brussels), the judge threatens to sentence him to immediate prison .
In the meantime, witness hearings continue. This includes Gary Farro, the banker who opened the account in the name of Trump’s lawyer and fixer Mike Cohen into which the hush money for Stormy Daniels was deposited.
“Judge who never grants me anything”
Judge Merchan also had good news for Trump. He will be allowed to attend the graduation ceremony of his youngest son Barron (18) in May. When Trump demanded this two weeks ago, but was met with a no from Merchan – it looked very much like yet another maneuver to delay the matter – the former president screamed bloody murder. Just before the hearing, Trump called Merchan in the hallways of the courthouse “the judge who never favors me.” He also called it “abuse that this partisan judge has not avenged himself.” The fact that Merchan is now granting a favor seems to indicate that the judge is satisfied with how smoothly the process is going.
