- Trump's lawyers are battling with prosecutors this week over a gag order issued in the hush money case.
- Legal experts told BI how judges could respond to President Trump's continued challenges to the executive order.
- In extreme cases, Trump could be jailed if he continues to overstep his bounds, experts said.
President Trump has been playing with fire recently with his social media posts.
As his defense team battles with Manhattan prosecutors this week over the scope of a gag order issued in his hush-money case, the former president continues his de facto attack on the judges overseeing the proceedings. They have not stopped attacking. daughter.
Two legal experts told Business Insider that if Trump continues to speak, he could be held in contempt of court, which would subject him to additional charges, fines, and even This means he could be sentenced to prison.
Gag order under consideration
Judge Juan Melchan on Tuesday barred Trump from publicly commenting on witnesses, court officials and jurors, given his past “threatening, inflammatory and defamatory” comments during the civil and criminal cases against him. issued an order.
Less than 24 hours after the order was issued, President Trump posted a post on Truth Social directed at Judge Marchan and his daughter, Lauren Marchan, president of a progressive political consulting firm. A real campaign.
Trump said early Wednesday morning that Judge Marchand was suffering from an “acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” adding that his daughter Lauren “just posted a photo of me in prison, which is her obvious purpose.” , apparently referring to social media accounts. He has an affair with the judge's daughter.
The account used to belong to Lauren Marchand, but it was deleted over a year ago and revived by someone else, though it's unclear who. A court spokesperson told the New York Times that the reactivation of the account with an email address unrelated to Lauren Marchan was “an operation on an account that she long ago abandoned.”
In a series of back-and-forth letters to Judge Marchand on Thursday and Friday, prosecutors and Trump's lawyers asked whether the gag order “protects the families in the courtroom” or simply the families listed in the order. There was debate over whether to do so.
On Saturday, Trump continued his attacks on the Marchand family, posting a link to a New York Post article featuring a photo of the judge and his daughter. The article focused on how clients of Lauren Marchand's firm, Authentic Campaigns, used Trump's legal battles to raise money.
Although not illegal, some critics argue that Lauren Marchan's role in promoting progressive politics creates the appearance of a conflict of interest for Judge Marchan. According to the Times, Trump's legal team filed a motion last year asking Judge Marchand to resign because of his daughter's work. Still, the newspaper reported that the judge declined, citing a finding by the Judicial Ethics Commission that found a judge's impartiality could not be “reasonably questioned.”
Trump captioned the post: “This is a disgrace to our legal system.” “Judge Marchand should be immediately sanctioned and removed from office, and this bogus 'case' that has been preserved only by extremely inconsistent judges should be immediately and completely dismissed. There is no case. There is no crime.”
Although he has repeatedly accused Judge Marchand's daughter of collaborating with politicians who are exploiting Trump's legal woes to raise money, he also called his own legal battles Trump's supporters are using it as a reason to donate to him.
Reuters reports that fundraising groups, including those affiliated with the Republican National Committee, have called on donors to directly fund Trump's legal battles, spending tens of millions of dollars on Trump's legal costs. It is said that
Judge Marchan is scheduled to weigh in Monday on a dispute over whether President Trump's continued comments about Marchan and his daughter violate the gag order. He is also expected to notify Trump's legal team of possible sanctions if inflammatory online comments are determined to violate the executive order.
Todd Blanche, Trump's lawyer in the case, did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
Either way, it's a win-win for Trump.
Neema Rahmani, a trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor, told Business Insider that while it is unlikely that Marchan would expand the gag order to include his daughter, he has already allowed criticism of Trump himself and District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “It seems like it's in a public place,” he said. There are potential consequences the former president could face for his comments if Marchand boldly enforces the gag order.
“The problem with President Trump's previous gag orders in civil cases is that they have been ineffective. Aside from imposing nominal fines, judges have not enforced them,” Rahmani said. said. In October, Trump was sentenced to a $10,000 fine for violating a gag order in a New York civil fraud trial.
Rahmani added: “It is too early to tell whether Mr. Marchand actually intends to enforce the order and hold President Trump in contempt if he violates it, but if not, It’s not worth it.”
Andrew Reeve, a litigator and legal analyst, told Business Insider that he expects a stricter gag order to be issued, based on a clarified order that would allow Trump to violate the order if he violates it. He said he could face criminal contempt charges.
“Trump loves to play games where he pushes the envelope to show what he can get away with,” Reeve said. “And he feels it's a win-win either way, because on the one hand he's a martyr if they attack him contemptuously, and on the other hand they attack him with contempt.” Because if he lets himself continue what he is doing, he is showing him that he might be saved.'' “You don't have to do anything, but if it were you or me, I would You'll never play the kind of game he's playing. He's playing free.”
Reeve said it's no small matter to be held in contempt of court, and if he had behaved the same way President Trump did in court, the average defendant could have already faced charges or a hefty fine. He pointed out that it is highly sexual.
And while Trump is not your average defendant, continuing to target judges and their daughters is not an option, especially given the escalating threats against judges and their families related to Trump's legal battles. That could prove inadmissible to a court, Reeve said.
“I think the next step is to make this order a clear, articulated, unambiguous court order,” Reeve told Business Insider. That means clarifying exactly who is protected by gag order restrictions. “The next step is probably a fine, and after that it's probably either a bigger fine or putting him in jail for a short period of time to see if he can get a tip.” I could see him going to jail for, let’s be honest, to get to the point.”
Reeve added, “I think this is going to escalate. Trump may not lose a case that cannot be appealed before the election, but he continues to push the envelope and could be held in contempt on any of these points.” He will go to jail,” he added. As they say, if you play with fire too much, you'll get burned. ”
