Judge Rules On Trump’s Alleged Gag Order Violations In Hush Money Trial
Huffington PostApr 30
Trump Fined $9K for Violating Gag Order
Image copyright: Curtis Means/Pool/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
Judge Juan Merchan on Tuesday fined former US Pres. Donald Trump $1K for each of the nine Truth Social posts the judge said violated Trump's limited gag order in the New York "hush money" case. Merchan also threatened Trump with jail time for further violations.
The limited gag order issued by Merchan in the former president's trial in New York prohibits Trump from making public statements surrounding likely witnesses, prosecutors, court staff, or their families. Trump has so far unsuccessfully appealed the contempt charge in an appeals court.
The Spin
Anti-Trump narrative
This is a small penalty for Trump's blatant flaunting of the gag order. Merchan may have to up the ante, and even consider jail time if Trump doesn't cease attempting to put his thumb on the scale of justice with insulting posts and accusatory statements about witnesses and other members of the court.
Pro-Trump narrative
It's absurd that Trump is being punished when people like Daniels and Cohen have been profiting off public interviews and their accusations about the former president. Trump has merely been reiterating his long-held, correct views about this case being a witch hunt against him, and his First Amendment rights have been taken away.
Nerd narrative
There's a 73% chance that Trump will be found guilty of at least one felony in the New York "hush money" criminal trial, according to the Metaculus prediction community.