Trump Judge Threatens Jail - Finds in Contempt

Judge Merchan, presiding over President Donald Trump’s New York trial, ruled that the President had violated the gag order nine times and fined him for each violation – he also threatened Trump with “incarceratory punishment” (i.e., jail time) for future violations. Have the President’s First Amendment rights been violated?

Fox News reports on Trump being found in contempt of court:

Merchan fined Trump $9,000 for violating a gag order that bans him from speaking publicly about witnesses and family members of court officials. The judge found he violated the order on nine separate occasions, with each violation resulting in a $1,000 fine.

The judge detailed in the order that if Trump carries out “continued willful violations” of the gag order, he could face “incarceratory punishment” if “necessary and appropriate.”

Trump attorneys argue the gag order is a violation of the former president’s First Amendment rights. District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his office alleged Trump violated the order at least 14 times, as of last week. The gag order was imposed on Trump in the lead up to the trial last month.

So a former U.S. President and the leading 2024 presidential election frontrunner for a major political party faces possible jail time or house arrest. We are not using hyperbole to describe the consequences for Trump. He could literally be put in jail.

And why? For defending himself publicly against the charges levied against him. To combat this outrageous attack on President Trump’s free speech, his legal team needs to start appealing these fines to the next level of the New York state court – the Court of Appeals. They can argue that these gag orders are overbroad and violate the President’s First Amendment rights to free speech.

Let’s be honest: President Trump is probably not going to stop talking anytime soon. With that in mind, his lawyers should start appealing these fines immediately.

Trump will likely keep offering his personal commentary on the case to reporters and on Truth Social. The opposition will then claim this commentary to be a further violation of the gag order and seek to put him in jail. The far Left’s political prosecution of Trump is never-ending.

We also see the far Left trying to shut down the free speech of pro-life advocates, and we are filing a cert petition at the U.S. Supreme Court today on their behalf. We have been involved in a decade-long battle defending pro-life counselors who have been shut down by abortion “buffer zones” outside a New Jersey abortion clinic.

ACLJ Senior Counsel CeCe Heil expounded on the importance of pro-life counselors having the freedom to share their message:

So we’re filing at the Supreme Court in this case, and this case involves . . . “buffer zones” around abortion clinics. So that just means that cities will enact these ordinances that stop people from, and usually sidewalk counselors – that’s who it’s aimed at, pro-life counselors – from engaging in any kind of speech with the women as they enter into an abortion clinic. And we’ve seen that when a sidewalk counselor is able to discuss and have a conversation with these women, a lot of times, the women actually see their options and make a different choice. So you know the abortion world hates that.

We recently had a victory in a similar case defending pro-life counselors from a “buffer zone” outside a Louisville abortion clinic. Now we will be filing at the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the pro-life advocates in New Jersey.

Today is the final day of our Life & Liberty Drive. We are launching a new project today: For the Love of God: Save Our Country. We are seeing demonic forces attacking our nation: rampant school shootings, the religious liberty of Christians under attack across America, pro-Hamas college riots that threaten Jews and supporters of Israel, and the list goes on.

So the ACLJ is fighting back. We are going to release a documentary on Halloween – just days before the election – to rally Christians to fight back against the forces of evil that are destroying our nation.

We want to raise $500,000 today for this project. Give today – your gift will be doubled and go toward this important new ACLJ project.

Today’s Sekulow broadcast included a full analysis of the judge’s outrageous threat of jail time for President Trump. ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy Ric Grenell commented on the ongoing pro-Palestinian riots on college campuses.

Watch the full broadcast below: