Former president Donald Trump faces possible contempt-of-court charges after a hearing Tuesday morning in his high-profile hush money trial following the prosecution's claims that he has repeatedly violated the judge's gag order.
Judge Juan Merchan grew angry at Trump's defense team after arguments over their client's apparent disregard for his gag order. He finally decided to reserve his ruling to avoid holding up the trial's second day of testimony, but the judge's tenor did not bode well for Trump.
"You are losing all credibility with the court," Merchan told defense attorney Todd Blanche after a bizarre back-and-forth between the two about Trump's social media posts and reposts.
In the court's first action of the day without the jury present, prosecutors showed the judge 10 examples of Trump's posts on Truth Social. Many of them targeting state witness Michael Cohen, a former attorney of the ex-president who is expected to testify.
In addition to social media posts, Trump also made statements regarding the jury and prosecutors in the case in the courtroom hallway. Those comments came despite Merchan's pre-trial ruling that Trump avoid making statements about certain aspects of the case that could influence the trial.
Blanche argued that Trump had not violated the gag order and was only responding to comments from Cohen and others who are expected to testify against him. Merchan rejected the self-defense plea, pointing out that he is allowed to answer political attacks but not target prospective witnesses.
Trump on Monday accused Cohen of "lying" following a day of opening statements. Outside the courthouse, Trump questioned when authorities would examine all the "falsehoods" Cohen presented in the previous trial. "He got caught lying. Pure lying. And when are they going to look at that," Trump said.
The trial continued with another day of testimony from David Pecker, the former National Enquirer owner who allegedly helped Trump "catch and kill" negative stories about the would-be president. Porn star Stormy Daniels' alleged affair with Trump was allegedly one of those stories.
