Justice Juan Merchan, presiding over the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump’s hush money scandal, cautioned Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, about the potential impact on his credibility if he continues to argue against penalizing the ex-president for disregarding a gag order.
Merchan deferred ruling on prosecutors’ request to fine Trump $US10,000 for breaching the order, which bars him from criticizing witnesses and others involved in the case.
Merchan challenged Blanche to provide evidence supporting his assertion that Trump’s comments weren’t intimidation but responses to political attacks. Merchan expressed frustration at Blanche’s failure to substantiate his claims.
Trump called for the judge’s recusal on his Truth Social platform, alleging that the gag order violated his constitutional free speech rights and labelling the court proceedings a “kangaroo court”.
The gag order prohibits Trump from publicly criticizing witnesses, court officials, and their relatives, a restriction emphasized by New York prosecutor Christopher Conroy.
Conroy cited an April 10 Truth Social post where Trump referred to Adult star Stormy Daniels and his former lawyer Michael Cohen as “sleazebags,” both expected to testify in the trial. Conroy argued that Trump’s posts prompted media coverage, leading a juror to withdraw over privacy concerns.
Conroy characterized Trump’s actions as willful disobedience of the order, seeking a $ 10,000 fine, a relatively small penalty given Trump’s substantial bond holdings from civil judgments in other cases.
Despite the option to jail Trump for up to 30 days under New York law, Conroy clarified that he wasn’t currently pursuing this route, suggesting Trump might be seeking such an outcome.
Blanche countered, asserting that Trump’s posts were responses to political attacks by Cohen and unrelated to the impending testimony, arguing Trump’s right to reply to political criticism.
Trump faces charges from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for falsifying business records to conceal a $US130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 US election, allegedly aimed at silencing her about a decade-old encounter.
