On his first day in Justice Juan Merchan’s courtroom in New York, four-times-indicted former president Donald Trump got a rude awakening: If he disrupted the court proceedings or failed to show up every day, he could lose the right to be in the courtroom, or even wind up behind bars. Moreover, he might actually be held accountable for his repeated Truth Social screeds, following the judge’s gag order prohibiting threats against witnesses.
As for the gag order, the Manhattan district attorney’s office filed a motion on Monday to hold Trump in contempt. The prosecutors recalled that the court entered an order on April 1 prohibiting Trump from making or directing others “to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding” and later denied Trump’s motion to stay that order on April 9. “The very next day, and continuing through this past weekend, defendant willfully violated this Court’s order by publishing several social media posts attacking two known witnesses — Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels,” the prosecutor argued. “These attacks unquestionably violate the Court’s April 1 order. And defendant’s violation is willful: a continuation of conduct that this Court has already found to be ‘deliberate and intended to intimidate this Court and impede the orderly administration of this trial.’”
The penalty sought is mild considering Trump’s wealth: $1,000 for each of three violations of the court’s order, an order “to remove the social media posts attacking Cohen and Daniels” and a warning that “future violations of the Court’s restrictions on his extrajudicial statements can be punished not only with additional fines, but also with a term of incarceration of up to thirty days.” In the case of his civil trial, Judge Arthur Engoron’s fines had their intended effect: The threats stopped for the balance of that trial.
While prosecutors stand a good chance of prevailing, given Trump’s outbursts against two critical witnesses, the court might soon be faced with the prospect of more social media outbursts. The presumptive GOP nominee’s inability to contain himself might present Merchan with a dilemma: Jail Trump, allowing him to play the martyr, or permit him to bully witnesses and perhaps others associated with the trial?
Merchan no doubt would like to avoid incarcerating a former president (even if it amounts to merely putting him in a holding cell behind the courtroom), but he does have another option: Add some zeros to the fines. The fines might start at, say, $100,000 and go up from there.
The trickier issue concerns Trump’s in-court conduct. Falling asleep on the first day earned him ridicule on social media and TV cable shows, but also might suggest he does not appreciate the gravity of his situation.
Even worse, Trump said something audibly and gestured as a dismissed prospective juror left the courtroom, which earned him a smackdown from the judge. “I won’t tolerate it. I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom. … I want to make that crystal clear,” Merchan said. If Trump is acting out on just the second day — and if his muttering during the E. Jean Carroll and New York civil trials are any indication — he might not be able to refrain from forcing the judge to hold him in contempt.
Trump was not through. On Wednesday, he quoted Fox News host Jesse Watters in a Truth Social post: “They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury." In the eyes of many former prosecutors, this constitutes outrageous jury intimidation.
Displaying his belligerence, bullying and showing disdain for rules will not endear Trump to the jury. But in Trump’s perverse mind-set, baiting the judge and even risking conviction in a “rigged” trial, as he claims, might seem politically advantageous: The more he is punished, the more his supporters rally to his side. (Trump seems incapable of appreciating that this behavior pushes all other voters into the arms of his opponent.)
Whether deliberate or not, any further outbursts from Trump will leave Merchan little choice. After one warning, he cannot allow his courtroom to become a ring in Trump’s circus. If Trump keeps it up, Merchan eventually will be left no choice but to remove Trump, even for just a day.
As many who have observed him over the years have pointed out, Trump lacks any semblance of impulse control. If they’re right, Trump might very well find himself the first former president to spend a night behind bars.
