Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, took legal action against Republican former President Donald Trump by filing a contempt motion on Monday.
The motion alleges that Trump breached a gag order imposed by Acting Justice Juan Merchan.
This order prohibits Trump from making public statements regarding individuals involved in a case where he faces 34 felony charges related to falsifying business records.
These charges stem from an alleged effort to conceal payments made to Stormy Daniels, a pornographic actress, in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with Trump.
Trump’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen has claimed that he made a $130,000 payment to Daniels at the behest of Trump.
Despite the allegations, Trump maintains his innocence and denies any wrongdoing related to the affair accusations.
The former president’s legal team has sought Merchan’s recusal from the case due to perceived conflicts of interest involving the judge’s daughter and her ties to a progressive political consulting firm. However, their efforts have not succeeded.
Bragg accused Trump of violating the gag order by posting statements on Truth Social, an online platform associated with him.
One of these posts allegedly referred to “two sleazebags,” believed to allude to potential witnesses Daniels and Cohen.
In response, Bragg called for the judge to warn Trump about potential jail time for disregarding the gag order and requested that he be held in contempt for his social media activity.
“This Court should again admonish defendant to comply with his obligations under the order,” Bragg wrote. “And finally, this Court should warn defendant 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.”
“It is absolutely critical that defendant immediately halt any conduct that would violate the April 1 order’s narrow restrictions to protect the integrity of the ongoing trial,” the filing continued. “A finding of criminal contempt, imposition of sanctions, and stark warnings from this Court are the minimum remedies necessary to achieve this indispensable objective.”
“This Court should now hold defendant in criminal contempt for willfully disobeying a lawful mandate,” Bragg’s filing added. “Defendant is not above the law, and he cannot simply disregard judicial orders that upset him.”
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