On Tuesday, Judge Juan Merchan was considering sanctioning Donald Trump for violating a gag order in his criminal hush money case, questioning why Trump’s social media posts were allowed. The day included a hearing on Trump’s alleged violations of the gag order and testimony from David Pecker on “catch-and-kill” deals to bury negative stories about Trump during the 2016 election. Despite the Passover holiday, it was a frustrating day for Trump in court, with Pecker set to return to testify about the Stormy Daniels deal on Thursday.
Merchan had issued the gag order before the trial began, restricting Trump from discussing certain topics, which he later expanded to cover Trump’s family after Trump attacked his daughter. While the judge has not yet ruled on sanctioning Trump, it was evident that Merchan was not pleased with the explanations offered by Trump’s attorneys for the social media posts that violated the order. The judge expressed frustration with the attorney’s arguments that the posts were political and not related to the case, particularly regarding the mention of pardons.
Tensions between Trump’s legal team and the trial judge continued to escalate during the hearing on the gag order violations. Merchan repeatedly asked for specific examples of Trump’s responses to attacks on social media and grew visibly frustrated when Trump’s attorney failed to comply. The judge questioned the attorney’s credibility and expressed doubts about Trump’s compliance with the gag order. Merchan had previously supported prosecutors in withholding the witness list from Trump’s legal team due to concerns about Trump’s social media attacks on witnesses.
David Pecker, former head of American Media Inc., testified on Tuesday about his involvement in “catch-and-kill” deals with Trump’s then-fixer, Michael Cohen, during the 2016 election. Pecker detailed his discussions with Trump and Cohen, where they requested positive stories about Trump and negative stories about his opponents, as well as the handling of stories involving Karen McDougal and Trump’s doorman. This testimony shed light on the coordination between Trump’s campaign and media outlets to manage negative publicity.
As the hearing drew to a close, Merchan challenged Trump’s attorney on the intentions behind reposting others’ content on Truth Social and asked for clarification on Trump’s belief that he was not violating the gag order. The judge did not specify when he would make a ruling on the district attorney’s motion to sanction Trump for the violations. The district attorney is seeking a fine for each violation and a warning of possible imprisonment for additional violations. The day in court highlighted the tension between Trump and the legal system in dealing with the ongoing hush money case.
