The first witness in the New York criminal trial of former President Donald Trump is scheduled to testify again on Tuesday morning, following a hearing where the judge will review several recent social media posts made by Trump.
Prosecutors claim that the 11 posts violated a gag order in the case, which prohibits Trump from making comments about witnesses, jurors, and others involved in the trial.
Many of the posts, posted in the last few weeks, contain derogatory remarks about adult film star Stormy Daniels and former attorney Michael Cohen, who are key witnesses in the trial. One post from April 17 even mentioned potential jurors who were being considered for the case at that time.
Prosecutors have requested a fine of $1,000 per post, the maximum penalty under New York law, and have asked Judge Juan Merchan to hold Trump in contempt for violating the gag order. It is uncertain whether Merchan will make an immediate decision on this request on Tuesday.
Jurors have been instructed to be back in court by 11 a.m. to continue hearing testimony from the trial’s first witness, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.
During his initial testimony, Pecker discussed the operations of American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer, where he served until 2020.
Under questioning from prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, Pecker revealed that he had final authority over what he referred to as particularly “sensational” stories.
Pecker mentioned the use of “checkbook journalism,” allowing editors to spend up to $10,000 on sourcing for stories, with larger expenses requiring his approval.
He is expected to provide detailed testimony about an alleged “catch and kill” scheme, where his company purchased rights to negative stories about Trump but never published them. Prosecutors also stated that Pecker will discuss efforts to find and publish damaging stories about Trump’s opponents during the 2016 election.
