Donald Trump’s defiance of Judge Juan Mershan’s gag order will be severely tested next week at a contempt hearing that has become part of the former president’s 34-count hush money trial.
According to several legal scholars, the former president appears to seeing how far he can push the boundaries of the gag order by reposting attacks on the jurors and witnesses made by others which will be central to the hearing which, in turn, could lead to financial sanctions including possible jail time to give him time to reflect on heeding the court’s directives.
In an interview with Salon’s Tatyana Tandanpolie, Pace University law professor Bennett Gershman stated Trump is, “playing games with the court, the prosecutors and the legal system … with impunity.”
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Noting Trump’s persistence, Gershman continued “The prosecutors called Trump’s attacks ‘ridiculous.’ But it is Trump and his army of followers, including his media toadies, who love him for the way he is ‘ridiculing’ the legal system,” before adding, “Trump is literally, not just legally, showing contempt for the court, the trial, and the law.”
Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson suggested that Mershan likely anticipated the former president would try and wiggle around the gag order, explaining, “He can think he’s clever in using someone else’s statements, but he’s essentially adopting those and promoting them.”
“The problem for Trump is that he’s built himself a reputation as a rule breaker,” Levenson elaborated. “He hasn’t acted in deference to the court. He’s basically always been in the attack route, and you can do that until there’s a court order, and then it’s going to backfire on you.”
