Former President Trump hinted on Monday that he would be ready to go to jail for repeatedly breaking a gag order imposed by a New York judge.
“The judge has imposed a gag order and warned that I could be imprisoned for breaking it,” Trump told reporters after court adjourned for the day in his hush money trial. “And to be honest, you know what, our Constitution is much more important than jail. It’s not even close. I’ll make that sacrifice any day.”
“But what’s happening here is a disgrace, and the appellate courts ought to get involved,” Trump added.
Judge Juan Merchan found Trump has violated a gag order for the 10th time and instructed him to pay $1,000 for attacking jurors in his hush money criminal trial, just days after the judge ruled on an earlier set of gag order violations.
Merchan cautioned Trump that future violations could result in imprisonment.
Merchan told Trump the “last thing I want to do is put you in jail,” but “at the end of the day, I have a job to do.”
“Your continued violations constitute a direct attack on the rule of law,” Merchan said.
The gag order prevents Trump from hurling insults at witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff, and the judge’s family. It does not prohibit him from attacking the judge or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D).
Trump has criticized the restrictions, claiming they infringe on his First Amendment rights to respond to political attacks, something he believes he should be allowed to do as the presumptive Republican nominee for president in November’s election.
