Lawyers for former President Donald Trump were warned during a hearing that they are losing "all credibility" in the ongoing New York City criminal trial.
On Tuesday, Trump appeared in court for the trial brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
According to Newsweek's Katherine Fung, who is reporting inside the court room, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan told Trump's lawyer, Todd Blanche, that "you're losing all credibility right now."
The hearing focused on whether or not Trump violated a gag order.
The context
Trump is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records regarding a payment made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential election campaign.
Last April, the former president was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who said Trump "fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election."
Trump has continued to deny any wrongdoing in the case and was previously placed under a gag order after attacking Merchan's daughter.
What we know
This month, Bragg's office filed a motion to sanction Trump for possibly violating the gag order. The prosecution requested Trump be fined $1,000 for each of three potential violations.
The prosecution handed out documents during the trial on Tuesday showing the alleged gag order violations, saying they "pose a very real threat" to the judicial proceedings.
Eight of these posts were made on Truth Social and two were made on Trump's campaign website. Prosecutors argue the former president also violated the order on camera during daily press conferences outside of the courtroom.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email for comment.
Views
Blanche said there was "absolutely no willful violation" of the gag order, Fung reported.
Merchan asked Blanche to point to the specific attacks, getting impatient.
"I'm asking the questions," Merchan said to Blanche. "Please don't turn it around."
Merchan asked Blanche to show case law supporting his arguments that reposts are not covered by the gag order.
"I don't have any case law to support that. It's just common sense," Blanche said.
What's next
Following the heated exchange between Merchan and Blanche, the court took a recess and Merchan said he would reserve his decision for after they return.
Trump's trial is expected to continue through the next few weeks.
Update 4/23/24, 11:53 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with further information.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
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