Prosecutors demand chance to grill Trump on witness intimidation in front of jury
Donald Trump was found in contempt of court Tuesday after violating a gag order designed to protect witnesses and jurors from intimidation — and now prosecutors want to question him about it under oath.
Prosecutors asked for another Sandoval hearing after Judge Juan Merchan ruled Trump was in contempt and fined him $9,000. The hearing decides what can and cannot be asked of the defendant if they take the stand in a trial.
A previous hearing was held before the contempt ruling was made.
Just Security's Adam Klasfeld, Lawfare's Anna Bower and Inner City Press' Matthew Russell all live-posted the hearing on X from inside the courtroom.
While the prosecutors said they were prepared for the hearing, Trump's lawyer, Todd Blanche, said, "We haven't even read it yet," referring to Merchan's contempt decision
"Read it," he replied.
ALSO READ: A neuroscientist explains how Trump is using existential fear to win the election
Prosecutors argued that they should "be able to elicit evidence about the defendant's harassment online of Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels, in light of the opening statements."
Blanche said that Trump's defense team should be allowed to present their evidence and get a final ruling immediately from the judge.
"We will cross-examine about bias, sure," Blanche said.
Prosecutors alleged the gag order violations show "consciousness of guilt" from Trump and asked that the judge give them feedback by Thursday.
That deadline request indicated to Bower that either Michael Cohen or Stormy Daniels might be slated to appear shortly after.