Trump trial to resume with gag order arguments, David Pecker testimony

Judge Juan Merchan is expected to hear arguments Tuesday on whether former President Trump violated the gag order imposed upon him in his criminal trial. 

The former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee will be back in court Tuesday with his attorneys at 9:30 a.m. as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and prosecutors allege he violated the gag order in the trial by posting on social media.

Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump before the trial began, ordering that Trump cannot make or direct others to make public statements about witnesses with regard to their potential participation or about counsel in the case – other than Bragg – or about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff.

Merchan also ordered that Trump cannot make or direct others to make public statements about any prospective juror or chosen juror. But on Saturday, he let loose with an all-caps rant on his social media platform.

Bragg argued in the first week of the trial that Trump violated his gag order more than seven times and that he should pay a $1,000 fine each for some of the instances. Bragg, in his motion, urged the judge to warn the former president that another violation could be punishable by up to 30 days of incarceration.

Trump and his defense attorneys have argued that the former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee should not be bound by the gag order, saying it violates his First Amendment rights as well as the First Amendment rights of his supporters.