Judge to consider gag order violations in Trump hush money trial

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media, as his criminal trial over charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 continues, at Manhattan state court in New York City, U.S., April 22, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Pool

By Luc Cohen, Jack Queen and Andy Sullivan

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial will decide on Tuesday whether the former U.S. president should be punished for violating a gag order that prevents him from criticizing witnesses and others involved in the case.

Prosecutors are asking Justice Juan Merchan to fine Trump for criticizing porn star Stormy Daniels and his former lawyer Michael Cohen, both of whom are expected to testify. They also have highlighted Trump’s claim last week that people were lying to get on the jury so they could convict him.

Merchan could opt to fine Trump $1,000 for each of those violations, as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has requested.

Prosecutors have asked Merchan to remind Trump at the 9:30 a.m. hearing (1330 GMT) he may face more severe consequences if he keeps violating the order. The law permits the judge to send Trump to jail for up to 30 days, in what would be a dramatic twist to the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president.

Trump says the partial gag order, which prevents him from publicly criticizing witnesses, court officials and their relatives, is a violation of free speech.

Trump is charged with falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment before the 2016 election to buy Daniels’ silence about a sexual encounter she says they had in 2006. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies an encounter took place.

Prosecutors say it was part of a wider conspiracy to hide unflattering information from voters at a time when he was facing multiple accusations of sexual misbehavior.

“It was election fraud, pure and simple,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said on Monday.

In his opening statement on Monday, defense lawyer Todd Blanche said Trump did not commit any crimes. “There’s nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. It’s called democracy,” Blanche told jurors on Monday.

He said Trump acted to protect his family and his reputation and accused Daniels of trying to profit from a false accusation that they had sex.

On Tuesday, jurors are expected to hear more testimony starting at 11 a.m. (1500 GMT) from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who prosecutors say participated in a “catch and kill” scheme to suppress unflattering stories about Trump and help him get elected.

Pecker, 72, testified on Monday that his company paid for stories – an unusual practice in journalism.

American Media, which published the National Enquirer, admitted in 2018 that it paid $150,000 to former Playboy magazine model Karen McDougal for her story about a months-long affair with Trump in 2006 and 2007. American Media said it worked “in concert” with Trump’s campaign, and it never published a story.

The tabloid reached a similar deal to pay $30,000 to a doorman who was seeking to sell a story about Trump allegedly fathering a child out of wedlock, which turned out to be false, according to prosecutors.

Trump has said the payments were personal and did not violate election law. He has also denied an affair with McDougal.

The case may be the only one of the Republican Trump’s four criminal prosecutions to go to trial before his Nov. 5 election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.

A guilty verdict would not bar Trump from taking office but it could hurt his candidacy. Reuters/Ipsos polling shows that half of independent voters and one in four Republicans say they would not vote for Trump if he is convicted of a crime.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jack Queen in New York and Andy Sullivan in Washington; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Howard Goller)