(NEXSTAR) — Donald Trump was found to be in criminal contempt Monday after the judge in his hush-money trial determined the former president had violated his gag order once again.
Judge Juan M. Merchan ordered Trump to pay a $1,000 fine — marking the tenth such fine that Trump has been issued for violating an order that bars what he can say about those involved in the case, including witnesses and jurors.
The latest ruling came in response to comments Trump made on April 22, during which Trump claimed on a conservative news program that the trial was being rushed, and the jury selection had been “unfair.”
“You know [the judge is] rushing the trial like crazy,” Trump said during the April 22 news segment, according to the judge’s decision. “Nobody’s ever seen a thing go like this. That jury was picked so fast — 95% Democrats. The area’s mostly all Democrat. You think of it as a — just a purely Democrat area. It’s a very unfair situation. That I can tell you.”
Trump’s comments, according to the judge’s decision, “called into question the integrity, and therefore the legitimacy of these proceedings, but again raised the specter of fear for the safety of the jurors and of their loved ones,” Merchan wrote.
Trump had also been accused of three additional violations, though Merchan said the court “cannot find beyond a reasonable doubt” that they amounted to punishable breaches.
Merchan had previously warned that the former president could be jailed for continuing to willfully violate the gag order. Upon being held in contempt Tuesday, April 30, Merchan wrote that he “will impose an incarceratory punishment” if the court feels it to be necessary.
On Monday, Merchan issued his harshest warning yet.
“Defendant is hereby put on notice that if appropriate and warranted, future violations of its lawful orders will be punishable by incarceration,” Merchan wrote, after noting that “monetary fines have not, and will not, suffice to deter Defendant from violating this Court’s lawful orders.”
In the court’s decision, Merchan wrote that those held in criminal contempt could be punished with a jail sentence “not exceeding 30 days” — possibly in addition to further fines.
The judge and prosecutors acknowledged that sending Trump to jail would be disruptive to the trial, though Merchan said he would not rule out the possibility.
“The last thing I want to do is put you in jail … but at the end of the day I have a job to do,” Merchan said.
Trump’s criminal trial entered a third week of testimony Monday. The trial concerns allegations that Trump had falsified business records related to a $130,000 payment made to his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who said Trump was reimbursing him for a hush-money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election. Daniels alleges she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006.
Witnesses including former Trump advisor Hope Hicks, National Enquirer publisher David Pecker and former Daniels lawyer Keith Davidson have already taken the stand. Daniels and Cohen are expected to give testimony as well.
