Read the decision finding Trump in contempt for violating the gag order with social media posts

Former President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 25, 2024. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged scheme to silence claims of extramarital sexual encounters during his 2016 presidential campaign . Photo by Jeenah Moon/Pool via Reuters

Former President Donald Trump was held in contempt Tuesday for violating a gag order by posting on social media about his hush money trial.

Judge Juan Merchan fined him $9,000 and warned of jail time should Trump violate the order in the future.

Read the full decision below.

In his decision, Merchan said Trump willfully ignored a March 26 gag order that prohibited him from commenting on some of the people involved in the case, including the judge’s family and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s family; as well as court staff, lawyers, jurors, witnesses and all of their families. He agreed with the prosecution that nine of the 10 posts on Trump’s Truth Social account and campaign website violated the gag order by publicly discussing witnesses and jurors in the trial.

Merchan granted that one of Trump’s posts could be construed as a response to a political attack, which the gag order explicitly allows; the judge therefore did not find Trump guilty of violating the order on that count.

Trump’s defense had argued in part that some of his posts were actually reposts, and therefore were not Trump’s own words. But the judge dismissed that argument, noting that Trump’s reposting was intended to maximize their public impression.

“Defendant curated the posts at issue and then took the necessary steps to publish the posts
on his Truth Social account and on his campaign website. In doing so, he endorsed the posts with one purpose in mind – to maximize viewership and to communicate his stamp of approval,” Merchan wrote.

But he also noted that the gag order must not violate Trump’s First Amendment rights, especially during an election year. Merchan wrote that the point of the gag order is to protect the integrity of the trial and give cover to witnesses to speak freely who might otherwise fear public rebuke, especially from the former president. However, the ruling noted, if those witnesses abuse the gag order, “it becomes apparent that the protected party likely does not need to be protected by the Expanded Order.”

That could be a reference to posts by Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, who is intimately involved in the case. Trump is alleged to have falsified business records by reimbursing Cohen’s payments to women who intended to go public with potentially damaging personal information about Trump during the 2016 election.

The judge also warned Trump that should he continue to violate the gag order, the former president may face jail time.

Left:
Former President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday, April 25, 2024. Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged scheme to silence claims of extramarital sexual encounters during his 2016 presidential campaign . Photo by Jeenah Moon/Pool via Reuters