Trump Faces Tough Day at Trial for Conspiracy to Hide Hush Money
NEW YORK — Attorney arguments before a New York judge Tuesday indicated a likelihood former President Donald Trump will face sanctions for violating a court order to stop his public criticisms of the judge, witnesses and prosecutors in his criminal trial.
A worst case scenario would be that Trump faces both jail and fines for violations of the gag order.
Trump is on trial for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up a sexual affair and hush money to an adult film actress.
Before and during the trial he berated his critics in public statements and social media posts the judge said could intimidate jurors and witnesses.
His criticisms continued Tuesday even as Judge Juan Merchan was trying to decide whether Trump should be penalized.
“This is a kangaroo court,” Trump posted on his social media site Truth Social. “Judge should recuse himself.”
A day earlier, when he addressed the media as he left the courthouse, he accused Michael Cohen, the prosecution’s chief witness, of “lying.”
“When are they going to look at all the lies that Cohen did in the last trial,” Trump said in reference to a defamation lawsuit that he lost. “He got caught lying. Pure lying.”
Cohen was Trump’s personal attorney who allegedly gave former porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to buy her silence about a sexual affair she had with the former president. Cohen has said previously that Trump asked him to help cover up the payments to avoid bad publicity during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal fraud charges and was sentenced to three years in prison.
Prosecutors said Trump’s criticism of Cohen was part of a pattern that demonstrated Trump’s contempt for the gag order Merchan issued April 1. They presented 10 of Trump’s social media posts as further evidence he violated the order.
“What happened here is precisely what this order was designed to prevent and the defendant doesn’t care,” Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy said.
Trump has called the gag order a violation of his First Amendment rights to free speech.
“He knows what he is not allowed to do and he does it anyway,” Conroy said.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche told the judge that “there was absolutely no willful violation of the gag order.”
Some of Trump’s social media posts consisted of republishing news articles onto his Truth Social account.
“Reposting an article from a news program or an NYPost article does not qualify” as a violation of the court order, Blanche said.
Merchan asked how the posts got onto Trump’s Truth Social account unless the former president put them there.
He told the defense attorney, “Mr. Blanche, you’re losing all credibility with the court.”
The judge did not decide Tuesday whether to impose penalties on Trump. He said his decision would come later, which could be as soon as Wednesday.
After discussion of the gag order, testimony continued with David Pecker, former publisher of the news tabloid National Enquirer and the prosecution’s first witness.
Pecker described himself as a long-time friend of Trump’s who published stories favorable about him while he ran for president. He also acknowledged publishing unfavorable stories about his opponents with Trump’s awareness in advance.
Prosecutors appear to have called Pecker as a witness to counter Trump’s arguments that he did not know the checks he signed and gave Cohen were intended as hush money. He said he thought they were payment to his attorney for legal services.
“Michael Cohen would call me and say we would like you to run an article … and National Enquirer would embellish it from there,” Pecker said.
When asked how he would describe Trump as a businessman, Pecker said, “I would describe him as very detail-oriented. I would describe him as almost a micromanager.”
As he left the courthouse, Trump again lashed out to the media against the gag order.
“It’s a disgrace, it’s totally unconstitutional,” Trump said.
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