NEW YORK — Judge Juan Merchan reiterated a sharp warning to Donald Trump on Monday morning, telling the former president that he is risking jail time if he continues to violate the court’s orders.
Merchan largely verbalized his written order from last week, in which he said that New York state’s cap of $1,000 per contempt fine was insufficient to deter a wealthy contemnor like the presumptive GOP nominee. But Merchan went slightly further on Monday: he told Trump that he had determined the fines were not deterring him from violating the order.
The next step, Merchan told an angry-looking Trump, who was sitting feet away and beneath him, would be incarceration.
“Your continued violations threaten to disrupt processing and constitute a direct attack on the rule of law,” Merchan said.
Merchan found Trump guilty of a tenth contempt violation in issuing the warning. That violation took place before Merchan held Trump in contempt for nine separate gag order violations last week, fining him $9,000 while reflecting on the means available to the court to control Trump’s behavior.
Since Merchan’s statement last week, Trump appears to have mostly held back from boosting attacks on the fairness of the jury and from criticizing Michael Cohen. In response to a question from reporters at the courthouse Monday morning about whether Cohen is a “liar,” Trump replied by criticizing the gag order itself — a move squarely within the bounds of Merchan’s orders, but which tacitly accepts the reality that the judge has imposed.
“The last thing I want to do is put you in jail,” Merchan told Trump shortly after he arrived in the courtroom. “You are a former President of the United States, and possibly a future President as well.”