Today, Judge Juan Merchan threatened former President Donald Trump with jail time after he found that he violated his gag order for the tenth time.
“It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent,” said Judge Merchan.
The judge, who is presiding over Trump’s hush money trial, expressed hesitancy to jail the former president.
“The last thing I want to do is to put you in jail,” he continued. “You are the former president of the United States, and possibly the next president as well.”
Merchan elaborated on his reasoning, explaining that holding Trump in jail would make the case proceedings more difficult.
“There are many reasons why incarceration is truly a last resort for you,” he continued, sating that the measure would be “disruptive to the proceedings.”
Despite Merchan’s hesitancy, he stated that he would not allow Trump’s attacks to go unchecked. Furthermore, he stated that Trump’s statements “constitute a direct attack on the rule of law.”
“I cannot allow that to continue,” said Merchan.
Trump has stated that he found the judge’s orders to be “unconstitutional”.
“This judge has taken away my constitutional right,” said Trump as he mulled filing a “constitutional motion”. “If somebody says something about me and I'm not allowed to respond, that's never happened before."
However, Merchan took umbrage with Trump’s claims about the speed of the jury selection, as well as an alleged Democrat bias.
“In doing so, Defendant not only 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,” wrote Merchan.
Trump is charged with falsifying business records and using his former attorney Michael Cohen to send “hush money” to Stormy Daniels—a former adult film actress—before the 2016 election.
