Former President Donald Trump said Monday that he is willing to go to jail for breaching the gag order imposed by a judge in New York.
The remark came just hours after Judge Juan Merchan warned Trump that he would be sent to jail for any further violations. Giving an ultimatum in the hush money trial, Merchan ordered Trump to pay $1,000 for breaching the gag order for a 10th time.
The former president has got $10,000 worth of fines since the start of the trial, 1,000 for each violation. However, Trump reacted to the latest warning by saying he would rather risk jail than comply with a gag order.
"This judge has given me a gag order and said you'll go to jail if you violate it," Trump said outside the hush money trial court in Manhattan. "And frankly, you know what, our Constitution is much more important than jail. It's not even close. I'll do that sacrifice any day."
"But what's happening here is a disgrace, and the appellate courts ought to get involved," he added.
Trump is facing 34 charges of falsifying business records related to payments made to his former fixer, Michael Cohen, in exchange for the silence of adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Trump has denied any wrongdoings.
Merchan first slapped a gag order on Trump to limit his public statements about jurors and potential witnesses in the hush money trial. The order was later expanded in response to the former president's social media attacks against the judge's daughter.
On Monday, the judge held Trump in contempt of court for a second time after it was found that he violated the gag order again.
Ordering yet another fine, Merchan said: "It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent. Going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction."
Meanwhile, Trump's former attorney William Brennan said Judge Merchan is "a pleasure" to work with. Speaking on Fox News's "America Reports" on Monday, Brennan described Merchan as a "pro".
"As a lawyer who's been knocking around this country for three and a half decades trying criminal cases, a pleasure to work in front of him," said Brennan, who represented Trump during his second impeachment trial.
"I'm not the president's lawyer in this case. I've had the opportunity to represent the president in his second impeachment and in a payroll tax case before this judge. But my personal opinion of Judge Merchan, he treated me very well."
"He was a gentleman, he is smart, he works hard, and I really don't — it's above my pay grade to get into political issues. I have no political agenda," Brennan added.
