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Donald Trump

NY v Trump: Judge threatens jail time for 'possibly the

next president' for future gag order violations
Former President Trump has already been fined $10K for violating gag order
By Brooke Singman Fox News

Published May 6, 2024 9:53am EDT

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Judge Juan Merchan said on Monday he will consider a jail sentence for former President
Trump if he continues to violate the gag order imposed upon him in his unprecedented
criminal trial.

Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump before the trial began, ordering that Trump
cannot make or direct others to make public statements about witnesses with regard to
their potential participation or about counsel in the case – other than Manhattan District
Attorney Alvin Bragg – or about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff.

NY VS TRUMP: THE EVIDENCE PROSECUTORS CAN PRESENT IF FORMER PRESIDENT

TESTIFIES

Former President Trump, left, attends the first day of his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on April 15,
2024. Judge Juan Merchan poses for a picture in his chambers on Thursday, March 14, 2024, in New York. (Angela
Weiss/AFP via AP, POOL/AP)

Bragg and prosecutors have alleged more than a dozen violations of the gag order and
have already fined the former president $9,000 for those violations.

Merchan, on Monday, fined the former president $1,000 for an additional violation, but said
it is "clear" that the fine — $1,000 per violation — is not effective.

The filing states that Trump is "hereby put on notice that if appropriate and warranted,
future violations of its lawful orders will be punishable by incarceration."

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, right, makes opening statements as former President Trump watches with his attorney
Todd Blanche before Justice Juan Merchan during Trump's criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to
conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City on April 22,
2024 in this courtroom sketch. (REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg)

Merchan said Monday that, going forward, the court will have to consider "a jail sentence."

TRUMP SAYS BIDEN 'SHOULD BE IN JAIL' AND 'ON TRIAL,' WHILE BLASTING NY CASE:
'THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING'

"The last thing I want to consider is jail," Merchan said. "You are [the] former president and
possibly the next president."

Merchan, though, said that he worries about "that step" for Trump, pointing to Secret
Service protection.

Former President Trump leaves Trump Tower on his way to Manhattan criminal court on Monday, April 15, 2024, in New
York City. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

"The magnitude of that decision is not lost on me," Merchan said. "Your continued willful
violation of the court’s order…constitutes a direct attack…and will not be allowed to
continue…It is not allowed to continue."

Trump and his defense attorneys have argued that the former president and presumptive
Republican presidential nominee should not be bound by the gag order, saying it violates
his First Amendment rights as well as the First Amendment rights of his supporters.

Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and
FOX Business.

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