Donald Trump's Juror Remarks Could Land Him in Hot Water

Donald Trump's social media remarks about the jury in his hush money trial may be in breach of a gag order imposed on him in the case, according to legal experts.

Analysts said that with his posts about the jury on Truth Social, the former president broke the order imposed by Judge Juan Merchan in March, which prohibits the Republican from making public comments about prosecutors, witnesses or jurors in the case, or their families, in the high-profile case. It was expanded in April to include prohibitions on Trump making statements about Merchan's family and that of the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

The hush money trial, which started on Monday, will determine whether Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election, falsified business records over payments to former adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair between them secret before the 2016 election.

Prosecutors led by Bragg allege the payments were part of a scheme to stop potentially damaging stories about the Republican from becoming public. Trump has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges against him in the case.

Writing on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Wednesday, Trump posted a quote from Fox News commentator Jesse Watters, who said: "They are catching undercover liberal activists lying to the judge in order to get on the Trump jury."

In response, speaking on the anti-Trump MeidasTouch Legal AF podcast, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a legal analyst and former Manhattan chief assistant district attorney, said Trump "had violated the gag order" by reposting what Watters said about the jurors.

She added: "I think the judge is going to go rips**t because you cannot say anything like that about a juror. That is going to intimidate a prospective juror."

Meanwhile, Ryan Goodman, former special counsel to the general counsel of the Department of Defense, said on X, formerly Twitter, that Trump was "making public statement about prospective jurors in this criminal proceedings," despite the gag order prohibiting just that.

Newsweek contacted a representative for Trump by email to comment on this story.

Prosecutors have said that Trump has already violated his gag order three times by posting about the witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels on social media after the first day of the trial. They asked the judge to fine Trump $3,000 for the violation, and he said he will hold a hearing on the matter on April 23.

Stephen Gillers, a professor at New York University School of Law, previously told Newsweek that Trump could be tried for criminal contempt of court if the judge says he has broken the gag order.

"If Trump is charged with criminal contempt for violating the gag order, he is entitled to a trial on that charge. Contempts outside the courtroom, which that would be, cannot be punished summarily by the trial judge. The maximum imprisonment if convicted is 30 days. The maximum fine is $1,000," Gillers said.

The jury is still being selected for the trial, which is expected to last between six and eight weeks. It continues on Thursday.