Judge conducts hearing on request to hold Trump in contempt for social media posts [Video]

NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors in the historic hush money trial of Donald Trump urged a judge Tuesday to fine him and hold him in contempt over social media posts that they say violated a gag order barring attacks on witnesses, jurors and others involved in the case.

Citing 10 posts on his social media account and campaign website that they said breached the order, prosecutors called the messages a “deliberate flouting” of the court’s prohibition and requested a $1,000 fine for each one.

“The defendant has violated this order repeatedly, and he has not stopped,” said prosecutor Christopher Conroy, who said the violations continued Monday with Trump’s comments to reporters outside the courtroom about Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer and the government’s star witness.

A defense lawyer countered that Trump was simply responding to others’ comments in the course of protected speech.

“There is no dispute that President Trump is facing a barrage of political attacks,” attorney Todd Blanche …