(DailyChive.com) – Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg proposed a 30-day jail term for former President Donald Trump if he breaches a gag order imposed on him by Judge Juan Merchan in the hush money trial. Bragg accused Trump of intimidating the witnesses, judges, and court personnel, as well as disrupting judicial hearings.
According to the motion filed by Bragg, the court needs to advise Trump that his violations of the gag order will not be treated with fines only, and the defendant can even face a jail term if he continues violating the court’s orders.
Bragg urged that Trump needs to observe decency to maintain the integrity of his hush money trial. The Manhattan attorney also recommended that the judge hold Trump for criminal contempt of court and impose sanctions on him that force him to obey the court’s orders.
According to the filing, Trump has violated the gag order three times. Bragg’s office mentioned a violation when Trump reposted a quote by Michael Avenatti, the former lawyer of adult film star Stormy Daniels, who defended Trump’s right to free speech under the First Amendment.
Bragg’s team also highlighted other instances of violation of the gag order, where Trump reposted Daniels’s comments from 2018 that she never indulged in any physical relation with Trump and a separate instance where Trump criticized former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz and Cohen.
While conducting a contempt hearing on April 23, Judge Merchan engaged in a heated back-and-forth exchange with a Trump lawyer, criticizing him for not presenting any evidence to prove the innocence of the former president.
On March 26, Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump and accused him of using inflammatory language against court officials. Merchan claimed that Trump had a history of making “extrajudicial statements” that could hinder the court’s affairs.
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