Donald Trump was threatened with jail time by Judge Juan Merchan on Monday after the former president violated a gag order in the hush money case for the tenth time.
“The magnitude of such a decision is not lost on me, but at the end of the day, I have a job to do and part of that job is to protect the dignity of the judicial system,” Merchan addressed Trump in stunning remarks.
“So as much as I do not want to impose a jail sanction … I will if necessary and appropriate.”
Merchan said it appeared $1,000 fines he has issued for Trump’s violations were not serving as a deterrent that jail was the last resort with Trump being “the former president of the United States and possibly the next president as well.”
“Of course, I’m aware of the implications.”
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Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump. (Getty)
Calling them “direct attacks on the rule of law” the judge said he “cannot allow that to continue.”
“So, as much as I do not want to impose a jail sanction… I want you to understand that I will if necessary,” he warned Trump.
The warning came after prosecutors last week flagged another four examples of Trump publicly criticizing witnesses and jurors hearing the case on his social media website Truth Social. Merchan has fined him $9,000 so far.
The presumptive Republican nominee in this year’s presidential election has pleaded not guilty to 34 felonies that allege he repeatedly and fraudulently falsified business records to cover up reimbursement to Cohen for paying Daniels $130,000 as part of a hush-money scheme to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election.
This developing story will be updated.
