The prosecutor overseeing Donald Trump’s legal hush money test will determine on Tuesday whether the former US president may be punished for breaking a gag order that prevents him from criticizing testimony and other parties involved in the case.
Trump is expected to testify against previous law firm Michael Cohen and movie star Stormy Daniels, but authorities are asking Justice Juan Merchan to great him. Additionally, they have brought up Trump’s claim that last week persons lied to get on the jury so they could indict him.
Merchan may choose to great Trump$ 1,000 for each of those transgressions, as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s department has requested.
At 9:30 a.m., Merchan has been asked to tell Trump. m. If he continues to violate the order after the hearing ( 1330 GMT ), he could face even worse consequences. In what would be a serious spin to the first criminal trial of a former US president, the law allows the judge to sentence Trump to 30 days in jail.
Trump says the limited gag order, which prevents him from publicly criticizing witnesses, court officers and their friends, is a violation of free conversation.
Trump is accused of falsifying business records to conceal a$ 130,000 payment made before the 2016 election to cover Daniels ‘ slander over a sexual encounter she claims they had in 2006. Trump has entered a not-guilty plea and denies that a fight ever occurred.
At the time when he was facing numerous accusations of sexual misconduct, the prosecution claims it was a part of a wider plot to conceal ugly details from voters.
” It was election fraud, pure and simple,” attorney Matthew Colangelo said on Monday.
Todd Blanche, a defense attorney, claimed in his opening statement on Monday that Trump did not commit any acts. ” There’s nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. It’s called republic,” Blanche told jury on Monday.
He claimed that Trump tried to gain from a false claim that they had sex, and that he was protecting his family and his reputation.
Jurors are scheduled to speak more evidence on Tuesday, starting at 11 a.m. m. Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who prosecutors allege participated in a” catch and kill” plot to silence unflattering Trump stories and aided him in winning the election, is now ( 1500 GMT ).
Pecker, 72, testified on Monday that his firm paid for tales- an uncommon practice in media.
American Media, which published the National Enquirer, admitted in 2018 that it paid$ 150,000 to former Playboy magazine model Karen McDougal for her story about a months-long encounter with Trump in 2006 and 2007. American Media said it worked “in music” with Trump’s strategy, and it never published a history.
A receptionist who was attempting to sell a story about Trump reportedly raising a child outside of marriage, which turned out to be false, according to the newspaper reached a similar agreement to pay$ 30,000 to the newspaper.
Trump has stated that the payments were made for specific reasons and did not violate the electoral laws. He has even denied an encounter with McDougal.
The situation may be the only of Republican Trump’s four criminal prosecutions to go on trial before his Nov. 1 election victory. Political President Joe Biden and the fifth poll championship.
Trump’s election might suffer as a result of a guilty verdict, but it would not prevent him from taking business. According to Reuters/Ipsos voting, one in four Democrats and third of independent voters would never support Trump if he were found guilty of a crime.
