NEW YORK — The Manhattan district attorney’s office on Monday sought to fine former President Trump over his inflammatory social media posts and remarks about his criminal hush money case.
Assistant District Attorney Chris Conroy said the former president in three recent Truth Social posts violated a gag order imposed by Judge Juan Merchan barring him from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and the judge’s family.
Conroy asked that Trump be fined $1,000 for each post and be reminded he can be jailed if he continues violating the gag order. The judge did not immediately rule on the request following a court break in proceedings. He opted instead to set an April 23 hearing date where he’ll hear arguments on the prosecution’s ask.
“The defendant is aware of the April 1 order. We know that from various posts he had made,” Conroy said.
Trump attorney Todd Blanche insisted the posts in question don’t violate the gag order, however.
“He is responding to salacious, repeated, vehement attacks by these witnesses,” Blanche said.
Monday’s development, which came on the first day of Trump’s hush money trial, followed a series of Truth Social posts Trump made about potential witnesses in recent days.
Prosecutors pointed to an April 10 post where Trump thanked Michael Avenatti, the ex-lawyer to porn actress Stormy Daniels, for “revealing the truth about two sleazebags who have, with their lies and misrepresentations, cost our Country dearly.” The “sleazebags” referenced by Avenatti were Daniels and Trump’s ex-fixer, Michael Cohen.
Another Trump post in question, also shared April 10, showed an “official statement” by Daniels where she denied having an affair with Trump — a core allegation in the case. Daniels later recanted the statement, which was not noted in Trump’s post.
And lastly, in an April 13 post, Trump described Cohen as a “disgraced attorney and felon…prosecuted for lying” and suggested Mark Pomerantz, an ex-Manhattan prosecutor who once oversaw the investigation into the former president, should be “prosecuted for his terrible acts in and out of the D.A.’s Office.”
Prosecutors suggested a post Trump issued Monday morning as he arrived at the courthouse may also violate the gag order. The motion was written beforehand and does not reference it, however.
The gag order does not preclude Trump from insulting Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) or the judge himself. It originally did not cover members of Bragg’s and Merchan’s families but was expanded after Trump took aim at the judge’s daughter, Loren, who works for a progressive political consulting firm that has boasted clients including President Biden and Vice President Harris.
Trump has appealed the order, arguing that banning public statements about individuals wrapped up in the case unconstitutionally restrains his free speech while running for president and mounting his defense.
A single judge on the mid-level New York appeals court declined to pause the trial over Trump’s request, but a full five-judge panel has yet to hear the matter.
Updated 2:30 p.m.