Merchan imposed a US$1,000 fine on Monday for an Apr 22 broadcast interview in which the Republican former president said: “That jury was picked so fast – 95 per cent Democrats. The area’s mostly all Democrat.”
He found that other statements flagged by prosecutors that mentioned witnesses Michael Cohen and David Pecker did not violate the order.
Last week Merchan fined Trump US$9,000 for nine social media posts that he ruled had violated the gag order.
Merchan spoke while Trump sat at the defendant’s table in the New York courtroom in the first criminal trial of a former US president.
Trump’s criminal hush money trial, now in its 12th day, has featured testimony from a top aide and a former tabloid publisher about efforts during his first presidential bid to tamp down stories of unflattering sexual behavior.
New York prosecutors have charged Trump with falsifying business records to cover up a US$130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims to have had a sexual encounter with him in 2006. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies ever having sex with Daniels.
Trump complains frequently that the gag order limits his ability to make his case to voters for a comeback White House bid.
Before Monday’s session, Trump declined to comment about Cohen, his former lawyer who is expected to be a prominent witness in the trial.
However, he repeated unsupported claims that New York prosecutors are working with President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to hobble his political prospects and said Merchan faces a conflict of interest because his daughter has done work for Democratic politicians. Trump’s lawyers have unsuccessfully tried to remove Merchan from the case.
“The judge has gagged me and I’m not allowed to talk about, I guess, his total conflict,” Trump told reporters outside the courtroom. “He’s taken away my constitutional right to speak.”
