NEW: Judge Merchan now rules on the gag order violations:

On #2 and 3 in the first motion: the court finds that the People have met their burden and Trump is fined $1000 for each of those.

#4-10 in the second motion: the court finds that the People have also met their burden…

Recall:

Under NY law and procedure, the moving party (in this case the prosecution) must meet their burden to have someone held in contempt.

And the punishment is a fine of $1000 or jail up to 30 days or a combo of both.

Katie’s Sidebar: Judge Merchan exercised his discretion in only fining Trump.

I suspect that when (not if) Trump violates again, Merchan will be more inclined to put Trump into custody, escalating the punishment.

It’s giving Trump enough rope to hang himself.

Here is Judge Merchan’s Order:

nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/pre…

Note: Judge Merchan warns Trump that if he continues to violate the order, the Court “will impose an incarceratory punishment.”

This part, too: