'It has to stop': Prosecutors say Trump violated Merchan’s gag order 7 times this week

18 April 2024

Prosecutors have hit a major snag in the jury selection process in former President Donald Trump's first criminal trial — Trump himself.

Already, two jurors empaneled earlier this week were let go. One was dismissed over a prior arrest for tearing down political posters, but another's excusal may have been due to the former president's social media posts. Now, prosecutors are asking Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the trial, to enforce the gag order he previously imposed on Trump, arguing that the ex-president is egregiously violating it with his recent behavior.

According to Rolling Stone reporter Nikki McCann Ramirez, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team say Trump has violated the gag order seven times so far this week. As evidence, they pointed to several of the former president's posts to his Truth Social platform amplifying attacks on witnesses and the jury selection process itself.

"It’s ridiculous, it has to stop," one prosecutor said.

In one post the prosecution cited as an example, Trump quoted Fox News primetime host Jesse Watters, who baselessly said "they are catching undercover liberal activists lying to the judge in order to get on the Trump jury." Following that post, one juror who had already been seated — an oncology nurse — said she felt she could no longer be impartial, and mentioned that friends and family had asked her about whether she was picked to serve on the jury.

Merchan also warned defense attorneys that Trump was exhibiting behavior toward potential jurors that could be perceived as threatening.

"I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom. I want to make that crystal clear," Merchan said on Tuesday, telling the former president's lawyers to "take a minute with your client."

While Merchan has scheduled a hearing next week to weigh potential enforcement actions of the gag order he imposed prohibiting Trump from attacking witnesses, court staff and their family members, prosecutors are also asking for penalties for Trump's latest alleged violations of the order. Enforcement could include either fines, jail time or both.

Bragg's team previously asked Merchan to fine Trump $1,000 for three separate violations — the maximum allowable financial penalty — and to force Trump to take down the posts in question.

"Defendant is not above the law, and he cannot simply disregard judicial orders that upset him," Bragg's Tuesday filing read. "And both the public and the participants in the criminal trial deserve reassurance that the judicial system stands ready to protect them and to preserve the rule of law in the face of defendant's extreme and deliberate provocations."

The defense countered that the actions in question do not violate the gag order, and argued that Trump's Truth Social posts "do not establish any willful violations."

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