WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Former President Trump’s social media posts could be getting him into trouble. On Tuesday, the judge in his New York criminal trial held a special hearing where prosecutors argued he violated a gag order.
The judge issued a gag order barring the former president from publicly criticizing witnesses. Trump posted anyway, lashing out at his former lawyer Michael Cohen and adult film star Stormy Daniels.
During Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors argued the judge should fine Trump over the posts.
After the hearing, the former president railed against the gag order.
“I have an unconstitutional gag order by a highly conflicted judge,” Trump said. “I’m not allowed to defend myself and yet other people are allowed to say whatever they want about me. Very, very unfair.”
Georgetown Law professor David Super calls Trump’s posts a clear violation of the gag order.
“If you or I were subject to this gag order and we tweeted like that we’d be locked up in a flash, but you and I are not Mr. Trump,” Super said.
Super says the judge is unlikely to put Trump in jail over this. Instead, he expects him to fine the former president.
Although that may not have much of an impact on Trump’s behavior.
“From his perspective, jail is off the table, the fines are irrelevant, so he’s going to do what he wants to do,” Super said.
The judge is expected to make a decision about that issue in the coming days. In the meantime, the trial continued with testimony.
Later in the day, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, David Pecker, told the jury that Donald Trump was directly involved in a scheme to buy then bury negative stories about him during the 2016 election.
“The gag order material is frankly a bit of a sideshow. The testimony is what really matters,” Super said.
The trial is set to resume with more testimony on Thursday.
