The fine is only $1,000 as the law only allows….
But the judge , looking DIRECTLY at the ex-President, explained that he WOULD incarcerate him if Trump didn’t stop pushing the envelope …
The judge explained he did NOT WANT to jail a guy who could be the next president and the security steps could effect the trial….
It would be up Trump….
A New York judge on Monday threatened to jail former President Trump after his latest violation of the gag order in his hush money criminal case.
Why it matters: Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the historic trial, issued the remarkable jail warning and fined Trump $1,000 for his 10th violation of the order, per the court order.
- “Going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” Merchan said Monday.
- “The last thing I want to do is put you in jail,” Merchan said. “You are the former president of the United States and possibly the next president as well.”
Driving the news: Merchan warned that Trump’s “continued willful violations of this court’s orders threaten the administration of justice and constitute a direct attack on the rule of law.”
- “I cannot allow that to continue,” Merchan said.
- The gag order restricts Trump from commenting on witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors involved in the case.
What they’re saying: Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said that Merchan’s warning to jail Trump if he violates the gag order is “authoritarian.”
- Cheung called the gag order on Trump “unconstitutional and un-American,” per CNN.
State of play: Merchan’s ruling comes less than a week after Trump had been fined $9,000 for nine other violations of the gag order….
Note….
Trump paid last weeks nine thousand dollar fines by check….
The judge only hit Trump on one of the four gag ordre violation this time….
I don’t know the laws of the state of New York, but I suspect that $1,000 is the maximum fine allowed for contempt of court (no doubt when the law was written, $1,ooo was worth a sizable chunk of someone’s annual income). So jail (for I don’t know how long) is Judge Merchan’s only other option.
Al Shanker of the United Teachers, and Mike Quill of the transit workers’ union both served time in civil jail for disregarding judges’ orders to stop strikes by city employees (which were at that time illegal). Mike Quill, a fiery old-time leftist is known for declaring. “The judge can drop dead in his black robes.”
Jail time is 30 days max for the TRIAL Crimanal contempt….
For class E Feloney the No Jail Probation first offenders NON-Violent ….Violent 1 to 4 years…
Trump would be a ex-President FIRST Offender Non-Violent
One of the news reports said that contempt can be punished with a fine up to $1,000 or up to 30 days in jail.