This Tuesday, presiding Judge Juan Merchan in the New York City criminal case accusing Donald Trump of the falsification of business records in connection to pre-2016 election hush money found defendant Trump in contempt. Specifically, Merchan — known as a Justice in local legal parlance — concluded that Trump had, in fact, violated a gag order imposed earlier by the judge himself that protects witnesses, jurors, and others connected to the proceedings.
And in his decision, Merchan called out the limits for financial penalties per violation of a gag order that cap such consequences at $1,000 at a time. He suggested that it would be more appropriate to put Trump under financial penalties that are much, much larger.
“While $1,000 may suffice in most instances to protect the dignity of the judicial system, to compel respect for its mandates and to punish the offender for disobeying a court order, it unfortunately will not achieve the desired result in those instances where the contemnor can easily afford such a fine,” the judge wrote. “In those circumstances, it would be preferable if the Court could impose a fine more commensurate with the wealth of the contemnor. In some cases that might be a $2,500 fine, in other cases it might be a fine of $150,000. Because this Court is not cloaked with such discretion, it must therefore consider whether in some instances, jail may be a necessary punishment.”
It’s already established that detention is a possible consequence in this kind of situation. Prosecutors held off — for now — on requesting that Trump face such an outcome, but from their corner, the judge, and the general course of law, it’s clear that it’s still looming out there as a possibility.
Trump’s trial had a break on Monday but returned Tuesday with further testimony. Imploding prior right-wing outrage that wasn’t based solidly in reality anyway, the judge opted Tuesday to allow Trump to attend his son Barron’s upcoming high school graduation.
