Judge threatens Trump with prison time: 5 takeaways from day 12 of Trump trial

Former President Trump faced a new threat Monday during his criminal trial in New York.

Judge Juan Merchan raised the possibility that he could send Trump to prison if he continues to violate the gag order.

Merchan warned of the possibility after fining Trump for the 10th time for violating the order, which prohibits the former president from attacking jurors, court officials and family members of judges, among others.

Trump complained about the silence, saying his rights were being violated.

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. This is the first criminal trial of a former president.

Prosecutors' underlying argument is that Trump sought to conceal a secret $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the latter part of the 2016 election campaign.

The money was intended to prevent Daniels from going public with her story of having sex with Trump about a decade earlier. The money was paid to Daniels by Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who was later reimbursed.

Trump denies having sex with Daniels or doing anything illegal.

Here are five takeaways from Monday's debates.

The specter of prison threatens Trump

Disputes over silence were at the heart of the trial drama.

Mercans' comments threatening Trump with jail time came as he levied an additional $1,000 fine on the former president. The ruling brings the total fines imposed on Trump in this case to $10,000.

Monday's initial decision could have been worse for Trump. The only instance in which Merchan found a violation was one of four comments by the former president that prosecutors marked.

But the judge also lamented that Trump's public comments about the trial, expressed in interviews and on social media, threaten to interfere with the just administration of justice and constitute a direct attack on the rule of law.

I cannot allow this to continue, Merchan said.

The judge's written order stated that if appropriate and justified, further violations would be punishable by incarceration.

It is possible that imprisoning Trump will benefit him politically by further inciting his most fervent supporters.

For now, it was surprising to hear a former president directly threatened with prison time, regardless of the verdict in the case itself.

We learn more about secret payments

On Monday, new details about the mechanics of the refund payments were revealed.

This occurred during the testimony of Jeffrey McConney, the former corporate controller of the Trump Organization.

McConney pointed out that Cohen's reimbursement, which was paid in installments, initially came from a Trump trust and later from the former president's personal account. In total, of the $420,000 ultimately paid to Cohen, $105,000 came from the trust and $315,000 from Trump's personal funds.

As previously known, Cohen was reimbursed $420,000 for a $130,000 expense because the money was grossed up to include various taxes he would have to pay. A $60,000 bonus was also included.

Trump had been elected the 45th president by the time Cohen was reimbursed. Some of the personal checks had to be sent from New York to the White House for Trump's signature, McConney said.

On Monday, a second witness from the Trump Organization, Deborah Tarasoff, testified that the checks would be sent to Washington by FedEx and would return with Trump's signature, typically signed with a marker.

Trump's defense: what's the problem?

When the New York indictment was announced by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) 13 months ago, even some legal experts who disliked Trump feared the case would be questionable.

Trump's alleged offense only becomes a felony rather than a misdemeanor if it is committed in conjunction with another crime.

The prosecution's case here is that the alleged falsification of Trump's records was intended to help him win the 2016 election and therefore amounts to election interference. But the former president has not been charged with any violation of electoral law.

Additionally, Trump's team claims that the classification of payments to Cohen as legal expenses is fair and accurate and therefore there is no evidence to answer.

Trump's team may have made some progress on that front Monday with some rather scathing questions to McConney.

Trump's lawyer, Emil Bove, got agreement from the former comptroller when he asked sharply whether the payments to lawyers constituted legal fees.

Bove also got McConney to agree that verbal agreements for legal representation may be a relevant detail, as McConney had earlier said he had never seen a written agreement for Cohen at the time.

A nod to “The Apprentice”

Monday's testimony included a detail reminiscent of Trump's hit reality TV show, NBC's The Apprentice.

McConney recalled how, in the 1980s, he went to Trump's office to be told you fired the phrase that would become a slogan.

Trump didn't actually want to get rid of McConney. But the future president was upset by his declining cash flow over the previous week.

Trump suggested that McConney could negotiate the bills down to prevent this from happening again.

Reporters in the courtroom said Trump seemed to like the story.

The prosecution gives two more weeks to present its arguments

Merchan insisted that the trial proceed as quickly as possible.

This seems to work so far. At the end of Monday's arguments, the prosecutor's team said they needed about two more weeks to present their case.

Trump complained to reporters immediately after the day's adjournment, saying it was too long, adding: “I thought they were going to be done with it today.”

In fact, the trial was widely expected to last about six weeks. He still seems generally on track for this period.

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