Alert – Donald Trump trial LIVE: Ex-president says MAGA fans can’t protest at court because of the biggest ‘police presence ever seen’ as contempt hearing begins – News Alerts

Donald Trump faces the prospect of going to jail if he is held in contempt of court on Tuesday morning.

Prosecutors have accused the former president of violating the gag order in the hush money trial at least seven times by attacking witness Michael Cohen and the jury.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has asked Judge Juan Merchan to fine him $1,000 for each post. The punishment could range from a warning to a stint behind bars.

After the contempt hearing, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker will return to the stand to finish testimony on the ‘catch and kill’ plots allegedly coordinated between Trump and the tabloid.

13:58

Trump under fire for calling Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels 'sleazebags'

Prosecutor Chris Conroy said Trump calling witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels ‘sleazebags’ undermined their credibility.

‘I think that’s all part of the plan for this trial. There is no other reason to be talking about that than related to this,’ Conroy said as he asked the judge to find the former president violated the gag order.

The gag order prevents Trump from publicly criticizing witnesses, court officials and their relatives.

The law permits the judge to send Trump to jail for up to 30 days.

13:52

Prosecutors say Trump has 'violated' the gag order 'repeatedly' and 'hasn't stopped

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office handed Judge Juan Merchan 10 posts where Donald Trump allegedly violated the gag order in the hush money trial.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy said the posts ‘pose a real threat’ to the proceedings.

‘The defendant violated the order again, on camera. He did it right here in the hallway outside,’ Conroy said.

‘The defendant has violated this order repeatedly and hasn’t stopped.’

Conroy then urged the judge to sanction Trump for each violation,

13:40

Trump left to sit alone at the defense table as judge takes lawyers into a conference

Donald Trump was left at the defense table alone after his attorneys and the prosecution were brought into the judge’s chambers.

Judge Juan Merchan invited the legal teams to the bench and took them into a sidebar conference before the contempt hearing.

Trump walked into court with his attorney Emil Bove after speaking to reporters in the hallway outside.

‘Good morning, Mr. Trump,’ Judge Merchan said as the former president stood.

Former president Donald Trump waits for the start of proceedings in Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in New York. Before testimony resumes Tuesday, the judge will hold a hearing on prosecutors' request to sanction and fine Trump over social media posts they say violate a gag order prohibiting him from attacking key witnesses. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, Pool)

13:31

Trump's valet Walt Nauta who was 'promised a pardon' in the classified documents scandal is in court with the former president

Donald Trump’s trusted valet Walt Nauta is with him in court today.

His appearance comes after reports that Trump’s team promised him that if the former president earns a second term he would be pardoned in the classified documents scandal.

Nauta, Trump’s co-defendant in the case, was charged with lying to the FBI. But the valet was told that he would be pardoned if Trump earned another White House term, according to a November 2022 interview with the FBI.

The interview was given to the FBI by a witness called ‘Person 16’ and described as someone who worked in Trump’s White House. A redacted summary was made public on Monday.

Trump 'promised a pardon' to valet in classified documents case

Donald Trump's team promised his valet Walt Nauta that if the former president earns a second term he would be pardoned in the classified documents scandal.

Mail Online

Trump's communications team leave Trump Tower in New York for Donald Trump's hush money trial. Credit- Probe-Media for Dailymail.com

13:31

Donald Trump arrives at courthouse where he addresses PA primary and college campus protests but does not mention his trial

President Donald Trump arrived at the courthouse where he gave brief remarks, but he did not address his hush money trial or answer questions.

Instead, the ex-president urged Pennsyvlania voters to get out and vote. The battleground state is holding its primary today.

‘It’s a big day in Pennsyvlania,’ Trump said. ‘It’s important to vote.’

He also gave a shoutout to Republican Dave McCormick who is running for the Senate.

Trump also addressed the protests taking place on college campuses, calling it a ‘disgrace’ and blaming it on President Biden.

‘What’s going on is a disgrace to our country, and it’s all Biden’s fault,’ Trump said.

The ex-president accused Biden of being ‘no friend of Israel.’

He did not respond to questions about what he would do differently.

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump walks, as his criminal trial over charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 continues, at Manhattan state court in New York City, U.S., April 23, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid/Pool

13:16

Newt Gingrich compares Trump's hush money trial to 'some of the civil rights workers in Mississippi in the 1960s'

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich went on Fox News where he compared Donald Trump’s hush money case to civil rights workers in the 1960s.

‘I am deeply worried that tomorrow, a totally corrupt judge and a totally corrupt district attorney are going to try to put a former president of the United States, candidate of his party, and front-runner in the polls in jail,’ Gingrich said.

He suggested it is ‘so horrendous’ that there has to be outreach to the Supreme Court.’

‘This is literally like some of the civil rights workers in Mississippi in the 1960s,’ he added.

Gingrich was appearing on Sean Hannity’s program. Hannity is a close ally of the former president.

‘The New York system is now so deeply corrupted, and it’s so bitterly, deeply anti-Trump,’ Gingrich claimed.

Gingrich said he thinks ‘any step that would put him close to a New York prison is an extraordinarily dangerous step and I would hope that there’s some legal way to block it and make sure that it never happens.’

13:05

Trump aide Natalie Harp and press secretary Karoline Leavitt join ex-president on the way to court

12:59

Trump says 'ALL HELL' will break loose if gag order is enforced

Trump has told supporters ‘ALL HELL’ will break loose if gag order is enforced against him.

In a fundraising email to supporters yesterday the former president said he was at risk of being sent to jail.

He wrote: ‘ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE IN 24 HOURS!’

Trump said that if the gag order was enforced he ‘could be thrown in jail’ and ‘Democrats will have free rein to destroy our country.’

12:53

Trump leaves Trump Tower in a windy Manhattan

Donald Trump has left Trump Tower on his way to the Manhattan courthouse for the contempt hearing and the second day of testimony.

A gust of wind whipped up his hair as he crossed the sidewalk and got into his waiting SUV.

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump departs on the day of his trial over charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, outside Trump Tower, in New York City, U.S. , April 23, 2024. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

12:48

Trump critic Michael Avenatti shockingly says the former president is a 'victim' in his criminal cases

Former attorney Michael Avenatti – who previously represented Stormy Daniels – is surprisingly coming to Trump’s defense.

‘I certainly see [Trump] as a victim of the system,’ he told Fox News Digital on a phone call from behind bars.

‘And that’s something that I never thought I would say. So if Michael Avenatti is coming to his defense, and I was one of his staunchest opponents for a very significant period of time, that should tell people something,’ he went on.

He was sentenced to 14 years in prison for dodging taxes and stealing $12 million from clients. That sentence is to be served consecutively with his five-year sentence for extorting Nike and stealing from Stormy Daniels.

Avenatti has been one of Trump’s firecest critics, so his comments come as a shock.

He called Trump’s four criminal cases – including the current hush money trial – ‘absolute overkill.’

FILE - Michael Avenatti makes a statement to the press as he leaves federal court in New York, on July 23, 2019. Avenatti was sentenced Thursday, June, 2, 2020, to four years in prison for cheating client Stormy Daniels, the porn actor who catapulted him to fame, of hundreds of thousands of dollars in book proceeds. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

12:33

Trump does a TV interview with a Pennsylvania station before heading to court

Donald Trump spent the morning before court on Tuesday doing a TV interview with a local Pennslyvania TV station.

His press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared a photo on X of the former president speaking to the cameras and said: ‘Biden’s trial won’t stop him from sharing his winning message with voters across the country’.

12:30

What to expect from the second day of former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker's testimony

Former National Enquirer published David Pecker is expected to tell jurors about his efforts to help Donald Trump stifle unflattering stories during the 2016 election as he resumes testimony on Tuesday.

Prosecutors say the longtime tabloid executive worked with Trump and Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen on a strategy called ‘catch and kill’ to buy up and then spike negative stories

He testified briefly on Monday and will be back on the stand on Tuesday in the Manhattan trial.

Pecker’s testimony followed opening statements in which prosecutors alleged that Trump had sought to illegally influence the 2016 race by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public, including by approving hush money payments to Stormy Daniels.

Trump has denied the porn star’s claims they had an affair after meeting at a charity golf tournament in Nevada in 2006.

Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker speaks from the witness stand during former U.S. President Donald Trump's criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City, U.S. April 22, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

11:55

While Trump is in court, Biden campaigns in his home state

President Joe Biden will travel to Donald Trump’s home state of Florida on Tuesday to target the former president on abortion.

While his probable 2024 general election rival languishes in a Manhattan courtroom, Biden will head to Tampa a week before the state’s new six-week abortion ban goes into place.

‘Many women in the southeast may have to drive for a day or longer to reach the closest clinic,’ Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in a call with reporters on Monday.

‘There is one person to blame for this cruelty and it’s Donald Trump.’

The president’s re-elect team also argued Florida is in play for them this cycle.

Biden campaign reveals why they think they can win Florida

President Joe Biden will pound Donald Trump on the abortion issue in a rare visit to the former president's home state of Florida on Tuesday.

Mail Online

11:18

Trump shook his head in defiance while the jury locked eyes on the prosecutor: An inside court account of the first day of testimony

The 12 members of the jury and their six alternates sat rapt with attention. For 45 minutes they listened to the lead prosecutor lay out the case against former President Donald Trump.

Matthew Colangelo delivered all the drama of a B-movie plot as he took them on a wild ride from a shady Trump Tower ‘catch and kill’ meeting to the extraordinary image of President Trump paying a loyal fixer by signing checks inside the White House, with a cast that included muckraking journalists, a now-disbarred lawyer who recorded his phone calls and a porn star.

Only one person inside courtroom 1530 looked unimpressed: The star of the show.

Trump leaned back in his chair, shoulders slumped at times. He did not look once at the jury as the case against him was laid out.

You did not need to be a body language expert to read ‘nothing to see here’ in his posture.

Prosecution opening statement holds jury agog while Trump just shrugs

The 12 members of the jury and their six alternates sat rapt with attention. For 45 minutes they listened to the lead prosecutor lay out the case against former President Donald Trump .

Mail Online

11:16

Trump's hush money trial: Five things we learned from opening statements and the first witness

The prosecution and defense delivered their opening statements in Donald Trump’s hush money trial on Monday morning.

The trial could last for six weeks or more, as the jury hears evidence alleging that the former president falsified business records to hide how he had bought the silence of a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.

But Monday brought the first real insight into the strategies deployed by both sides.

And the court heard from its first witness, David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer.

This is what we learned from the first day of evidence in the case:

Trump's hush money trial: Five things we learned

The prosecution and defense delivered their opening statements in Donald Trump 's hush money trial on Monday morning, offering the first insights into their strategies.

Mail Online

11:14

Trump appears to be violating gag order AGAIN by calling the jury '95 percent Democrats'

Donald Trump appeared to have violated his gag order again on the first day of testimony in his New York ‘hush money’ trial.

During an interview on Steve Bannon’s network Real America’s Voice, Trump attacked the jury.

Judge Juan Merchan had already implemented a gag order barring Trump from attacking witnesses, jurors, trial prosecutors and some others.

‘That jury was picked so fast. Ninety-five percent are Democrats. The area is mostly all Democrat. You think of it as a purely Democrat area. It’s a very unfair situation that I can tell you,’ Trump said during the interview.

Judge Merchan has now scheduled hearing for Tuesday morning to consider prosecutors’ arguments that Trump has violated his gag order in several previous comments – and that he should be held in contempt.

Former president rips 'hush money' jury on eve of contempt hearing

On the first day of his New York 'hush money' trial, Donald Trump appears to have breached his gag order by criticizing the jury during an interview.

Mail Online

11:12

Donald Trump faces jail at contempt hearing

Welcome to DailyMail.com’s live coverage from our reporters at Donald Trump’s historic hush money trial.

The former president faces the prospect of going to jail if he is held in contempt of court on Tuesday morning.

Prosecutors have accused him of violating the gag order in the hush money trial at least seven times by attacking witness Michael Cohen and the jury.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has asked Judge Juan Merchan to fine him $1,000 for each post. The punishment could range from a warning to a stint behind bars.

After the contempt, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker will return to the stand to finish testimony on the ‘catch and kill’ plots allegedly coordinated between Trump and the tabloid.