A new court order from amid the New York City criminal trial of ex-President Donald Trump warns of the possibility of immediate arrest and detention if he fails to show up for an upcoming hearing (scheduled for early next week) on his alleged violations of a gag order.
The warning comes in an opening heading on the first page of the document. “WARNING: YOUR FAILURE TO APPEAR IN COURT MAY RESULT IN YOUR IMMEDIATE ARREST AND IMPRISONMENT FOR CONTEMPT OF COURT,” the filing says. It then lays out a schedule for filings on the dispute.
The gag order blocks a range of attacks from Trump on witnesses, jurors, and others, and prosecutors are singling out public commentary from the former president targeting individuals including Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen. Both were involved in the hush money scandal lying behind the criminal trial. Daniels was provided the pre-2016 election funds, and Cohen was the source — spurring evident reimbursements for the then-Trump lawyer that were the subject of allegedly falsified business records driving this case against Trump.
Prosecutors are asking for financial penalties on Trump for three social media posts allegedly violating the gag order. The sought penalties, though reaching the maximum under the law, are only $1,000 each. (In a different Trump case involving allegations of mishandling tax obligations at Trump’s businesses, this same prosecutor already pointed to a clear opening for policymakers to expand possible penalties.) And Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team also asked for Trump to be warned of a prospect of up to 30 days in jail just for future violations of the order.
“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,” prosecutors said in filings. Presiding Judge Juan Merchan has ruled against Trump plenty of times already to make an unfavorable outcome for the former president a seemingly clear possibility.
