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The judge in Donald Trump's hush-money case warned he could be jailed if interfered with proceedings and had to interfere in a heated exchange between the prosecutors and defense teams.
Prosecutors also claimed the former president had violated the gag order against him and demanded a $3,000 fine for three social media posts.
One of them attacked Michael Cohen and another called Merchan a ‘corrupt New York Judge'.
The 77-year-old's lead defense attorney Todd Blanche got a word of caution from Judge Juan Merchan when he said his high-profile client wanted to be involved in every aspect of the trial.
The judge in Donald Trump 's hush-money case warned he could be jailed if interfered with proceedings and had to interfere in a heated exchange between the prosecutors and defense teams
Prosecutors also claimed the former president had violated the gag order against him and demanded a $3,000 fine for three social media posts targeting the judge
In an unusual move, Blanche said that whenever a juror had a problem during the selection process and needed to talk about it in private, Trump wanted to be there himself.
Judge Merchan said that these conferences would happen in a side room with Trump and his Secret Service detail present.
The ruling raises the bizarre prospect that jurors with delicate matters to discuss will have to do it with a former President staring at them from a few feet away.
Jurors often ask for these conferences to talk about personal matters which affect their ability to serve that they do not want the wider public to hear.
'President Trump wants to be present at everything,' Blanche said. Merchan then warned that he could put Trump behind bars if he interferes and let the trial continue in his absence.
Merchan warned that if Trump disrupts the proceeding, he could be jailed with the proceeding continuing in his absence.
The exchange followed an explosive start to the trial where Merchan ruled that Playboy model Karen McDougal could testify about her alleged affair with the then-reality star.
He also said prosecutors could bring evidence that Trump's campaign coordinated with the National Enquirer to suppress the McDougal allegations before the 2016 election.
But he stopped short of letting them bring up salacious details of the alleged relationship in front of a jury.
After a morning break, Merchan lambasted Trump’s lawyers again and told both sides to ‘relax’ as temperatures became heated.
Blanche objected to having to tell prosecutors 48 hours before filing any motions to the docket.
Judge Merchan said that he put the rule in place because Trump’s lawyers had ‘absolutely inundated’ the court with motions, many of which were ‘close to frivolous if not frivolous’.
The judge said that each side should allow the other side to have until the end of that business day to reply.
Steinglass tried insist that Trump’s lawyers could not send motions over at 4.30pm to try and skirt around the law.
As Steinglass spoke, Judge Merchan said: ‘Mr Blanche, please wait for him to finish’
Judge Merchan said that Blanche was ‘clear’ that motions were one page.
But he noted that in recent motions from the Trump team the ‘font has been getting increasingly smaller’.
When Blanche insisted he was not trying to flout the court’s orders, Judge Merchan told him and Steinglass: ‘Please both of you sit down, relax’.
The judge said: ‘We have 500 jurors waiting. To be honest with you I’m not interested in getting into this minutia
‘There is more important work to be done. I expect you both (Steinglass and Blanche to conduct yourselves as the professionals that you are’.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told the court: ‘We intend to elicit evidence Karen McDouglas was a former Playboy model who claims to have had a romantic and sexual relations with Mr Trump including while Mr Trump’s wife Melania was pregnant with their child’.
He said that they have ‘no intention of describing sexual acts or locales’ where it happened.
But the ‘fact this occurred while Melania was pregnant and after the birth of his son speaks directly to the extent to which the defendant believes the story could be damaging to his campaign’, Steinglass said.
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche argued that the ‘only value is to embarrass President Trump’. He said the claims were ‘salacious with no value’
Judge Merchan said that the evidence should be allowed in except for ‘bringing up that the defendant’s wife was pregnant and this went on and even after she gave birth’
‘At this moment the prejudicial value excuses the probative value’, he said.
McDougal claims she had a ten-month affair and was in love with Trump between 2006 and 2007. She was then paid $150,000 to tell her story to the National Enquirer, but the interview was never published.
Trump's blushes were spared at the start of his hush money trial on Monday as the judge refused to allow evidence he was allegedly having sex with Playboy model Karen McDougal while his wife Melania was pregnant with their son Barron
McDougal claims she had a ten-month affair and was in love with Trump between 2006 and 2007. She was then paid $150,000 to keep quiet about it by the National Enquirer
he former president, 77, is facing 34 felony charges of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels over their alleged affair.
Each count he has strenuously denied carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison, but if found guilty he could face a fine or probation as a first-time offender.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked the judge to allow evidence describing the liaisons between Trump and McDougal, and the fact the former first lady was due to give birth at the time.
Steinglass said: ‘We intend to elicit evidence Karen McDougal was a former Playboy model who claims to have had a romantic and sexual relations with Mr Trump including while Mr Trump’s wife Melania was pregnant with their child’.
Steinglass said that the National Enquirer thought the story was ‘true’ after looking into it. But he said that they have ‘no intention of describing sexual acts or locales’ where it happened.
But the ‘fact this occurred while Melania was pregnant and after the birth of his son speaks directly to the extent to which the defendant believes the story could be damaging to his campaign’, Steinglass said.
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche aid that the ‘only value is to embarrass' his client.
He said that there is ‘no scenario a jury won’t take a negative view’ of Trump’s behaviour and that it was ‘salacious with no value’
Merchan said that the evidence should come in except for ‘bringing up that the defendant’s wife was pregnant and this went on and even after she gave birth’
‘At this moment the prejudicial value excuses the probative value’, he said.
