Former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial over alleged “hush money” payments has started in New York City — and prosecutors are already demanding the bombastic Trump be held in contempt of court.
New York prosecutors are seeking to impose a $3,000 fine on Trump, accusing him of violating the gag order issued by Judge Juan Merchan in recent Truth Social posts about individuals involved in his criminal case.
During the hearing on Monday, prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office argued that three separate posts Trump made on his Truth Social platform ran afoul of Merchan’s order prohibiting discussion of case participants’ family members.
They asked the judge to hold Trump in contempt of court and fine him $1,000 for each post.
“We think it is important for the court to remind Mr. Trump that he is a criminal defendant,” prosecutor Christopher Conroy told the judge while advocating for the fine against the former president.
The gag order came just days after Trump posted criticism of Merchan’s daughter, Loren, over her history of political fundraising and financial involvement with numerous Democratic candidates.
Trump’s legal team pushed back forcefully against the prosecution’s allegations of contempt of court. Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche contended the posts merely responded to perceived attacks from witnesses like porn star Stormy Daniels and Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen.
“He is responding to salacious, repeated, vehement attacks by these witnesses,” Blanche argued in the former president’s defense.
The dueling positions over the scope of Merchan’s gag order underscored the contentious legal battle already brewing even before opening statements in Trump’s unprecedented criminal trial over alleged hush money payments.
As prosecutors cited the need to “remind” Trump of upholding courtroom decorum despite his status, the defense claimed he retained rights to counterattack perceived attacks from adversarial witnesses making inflammatory public statements.
Merchan set a hearing on the prosecutors’ request to hold Trump in contempt for Wednesday, April 24 at 2:15 p.m. Eastern.
As the leading Republican presidential candidate, Trump has repeatedly complained that gag orders issued by the court violate his First Amendment rights and constitute election interference.
Stephen Dietrich is the Publisher of The Horn News