Speaking outside the New York State Supreme Court on Monday, May 6, after witness testimony wrapped up, former President Donald Trump tore into Judge Merchan over the gag order placed on him and over the decision to keep him stuck in the courtroom, which Trump said is interfering with his 2024 presidential campaign by keeping him off the campaign trail.
As background, Judge Merchan placed a gag order on Trump over Trump’s comments about the case. The gag order bars Trump from, the AP reports, “commenting publicly on witnesses, jurors and some others connected to the matter.” Trump has routinely violated that gag order, leading Judge Merchan to fine him numerous times and, on Monday, even threaten jail. Judge Merchan has also ordered that Trump must remain in the courtroom for the trial, something which has kept him off the campaign trail.
Making that comment on Monday, Judge Merchan said, when fining Trump yet again, “It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent. Therefore going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction.” Judge Merchan then claimed that Trump’s comments “threaten to interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitute a direct attack on the rule of law. I cannot allow that to continue.”
As Trump glowered at him, Merchan threatened jail time, saying, “The last thing I want to do is put you in jail. He added, “You are the former president of the United States and possibly the next president, as well. There are many reasons why incarceration is truly a last resort for me. To take that step would be disruptive to these proceedings, which I imagine you want to end as quickly as possible.”
In any case, Trump sounded off on Judge Merchan Monday, declaring that the case is both a “witch hunt” and “election interference. Speaking outside the court, the former president said, “This is just a political witch hunt.” He continued, “It’s election interference… it’s a disgrace.”
Continuing, he sounded off on the gag order, saying he can’t say what he wants to because of the gag order and Judge Merchan’s jail threat. He said, “I have to watch every word I tell you people.” He continued, “I can’t talk about it because this judge is giving me a gag order and says you’ll go to jail if you violate it.”
Trump also commented on the news that came from the prosecution on Monday that they would need about two more weeks to finish making their case. Sounding off on that, Trump said, “That means they want to keep me off the trail for two to three more weeks.” He also said that “anybody in there would realize” that the prosecution doesn’t have a case.
Watch him here:
Posting about the gag order on Truth Social, Trump quoted Andrew McCarthy as saying, “I think the gag order is over-the-top and have said so…It is an arrogant expression of a judge convinced that nothing — not even free expression and robust political speech in a presidential election — takes precedence over the administration of justice in the farcical ongoing trial…If Merchan were truly interested in the administration of justice, he could have postponed the trial until after the November election.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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