Only a day after Donald Trump was warned by the judge in his New York criminal case that he could face jail if he continues to run afoul of his gag order, the former president posted to social media about today’s witness — but then quickly deleted it.
Justice Juan Merchan slapped Trump with another contempt of court charge Monday for violating the gag order, which, among other things, precludes Trump from talking publicly about witnesses in his hush-money trial.
Trump posted to Truth Social: “I have just recently been told who the witness is today. This is unprecedented, no time for lawyers to prepare. No Judge has ever run a trial in such a biased and partisan way. He is CROOKED & HIGHLY CONFLICTED, even taking away my First Amendment Rights. Now he’s threatening me with JAIL, & THEY HAVE NO CASE - This according to virtually all Legal Scholars & Experts! Why isn’t the Fake News Media reporting his Conflict?”
The witness he referred to is Stormy Daniels, who is at the center of the criminal trial.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
A gag order bars Trump from commenting publicly on witnesses, jurors and some others connected to the matter.
But the order doesn’t stop Trump from talking about the allegations against him or commenting on the judge or the elected top prosecutor. And despite a recent Trump remark, it doesn’t stop him from testifying in court if he chooses.
Generally speaking, a gag order is a judge’s directive prohibiting someone or people involved in a court case from publicly commenting about some or all aspects of it. In Trump’s case, it’s titled an “Order Restricting Extrajudicial Statements,” with “extrajudicial” meaning outside of court.
Gag orders, particularly in high-profile cases, are intended to prevent information presented outside a courtroom from affecting what happens inside.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged effort to keep salacious — and, he says, bogus — stories about his sex life from emerging during his 2016 campaign. On Monday, Trump called the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg a “scam” and “witch hunt.”
The charges center on $130,000 in payments that Trump’s company made to his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen. He paid that sum on Trump’s behalf to keep porn actor Daniels from going public with her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied the sexual encounter ever happened.
Prosecutors say the payments to Cohen were falsely logged as legal fees. Prosecutors have described it as part of a scheme to bury damaging stories Trump feared could help his opponent in the 2016 race, particularly as Trump’s reputation was suffering at the time from comments he had made about women.
Trump has acknowledged reimbursing Cohen for the payment and that it was designed to stop Daniels from going public about the alleged encounter. But Trump has previously said it had nothing to do with the campaign.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.
