OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Judge Juan Merchan’s decision to declare that former President Donald Trump had broken the gag order came with a deadline, and on Tuesday, he removed several posts from his Truth Social account.
This is the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president, with 34 felony counts against him for allegedly falsifying business records about hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
The former president has gained notoriety for his alleged habit of dozing off—at least four times so far—and for his continuous complaints about Merchan’s gag order.
Todd Blanche, the attorney for Trump, came under heavy criticism from Merchan during a hearing last week about the gag order. Merchan became agitated and even threatened to “get you fired from the court” at one point. The May 2 hearing will address the additional posts and remarks made by Trump that the prosecution claimed went against the gag order.
Although most legal experts didn’t think Merchan would throw the former president in jail for this first round of infractions, the judge did fine him $9,000 for the first nine infractions and set a deadline of 2:15 pm ET on Tuesday for the removal of the offending posts from his campaign website and Truth Social account.
The judge also warned Trump that any future violation of the law would result in imprisonment. This is because the court is not authorized to impose a fine that would have a meaningful impact on someone with the wealth of the former president, according to New York law.
However, the Judiciary Law does not vest the Court with authority to craft an appropriate punishment when a $1,000 fine will not achieve the intended purpose. While $1,000 may suffice in most instances to protect the dignity of the judicial system, to compel respect for its mandates and to punish the offender for disobeying a court order, it unfortunately will not achieve the desired result in those instances where the contemnor can easily afford such a fine. In those circumstances, it would be preferablc if the Court could impose a fine more commensurate with the wealth of the contemnor. In somc cases that might be a $2,500 fine, in other cases it might be a fine of $150,000. Because this Coum is not cloaked with such discretion, it must therefore consider whether in some instances, jail may be a necessary punishment.
THEREFORE, Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment.
Trump has embraced being in New York recently and is even vowing to hold a campaign rally in the Big Apple.
Trump said he plans to make a push for New York with rallies planned for Madison Square Garden and in the Bronx, a portion of which is represented in Congress by far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D).
“The last time the Bronx was the center of a Republican presidential campaign was in 1984, when Ronald Reagan won by a landslide,” Breitbart News reported.
During a visit to a lower Manhattan construction site before heading into court on Thursday, Trump was well-received by workers and other New Yorkers, later telling a Fox News reporter he would make a play for the state.
“I think we have a good chance of winning here and we’re going to give it a big plan,” he said. “We’re going to the South Bronx to do a rally. We’re going to be doing a rally at Madison Square Garden, we believe.”
The rallies will focus on honoring police, firemen, and teachers, Breitbart reported. “We’ll be honoring the people that make New York work,” Trump said. “It’ll be very exciting, but we think we have a really good chance of winning.”
