In a new filing that followed similar arguments made in court, prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office are accusing former President Donald Trump of violating a gag order in their criminal case against him and want the ex-commander-in-chief threatened with serious penalties including detention if he violates it again.
Their requests to the judge, formalized with a Tuesday filing, include that he warn Trump that he could land with weeks in prison for future violations. (It’s specifically a sentence of up to 30 days for findings of contempt.)
“In addition, this Court should again admonish defendant to comply with his obligations under the order,” prosecutors told the judge. “And finally, this Court should warn defendant that future violations of the Court’s restrictions on his extrajudicial statements can be punished not only with additional fines, but also with a term of incarceration of up to thirty days. It is absolutely critical that defendant immediately halt any conduct that would violate the April 1 order’s narrow restrictions to protect the integrity of the ongoing trial.”
Trial in local prosecutors’ criminal case accusing Trump of falsifying business records in connection to hush money from before the 2016 presidential election kicked off on Monday, leading in part with jury selection. Presiding Judge Juan Merchan also rejected a renewed push from the Trump team for his recusal, meaning exit, something for which Trump’s team was pushing with complaints about supposed conflicts stemming from purported political activities of a daughter to the judge.
The gag order blocks public attacks from Trump on jurors, witnesses, and others, and prosecutors are singling out public commentary from the former president on Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen. Daniels, who allegedly had an affair with Trump, was the recipient of that pre-election hush money, which Cohen provided, spurring the reimbursements covered by the allegedly falsified records. Both were long expected as witnesses.
