Judge Commands Trump To Sit Down In Court After Former President Tries To Leave

Last week, former President Donald Trump‘s criminal trial in New York City for the hush money case involving former adult film actress Stormy Daniels began.

Trump’s trial generated numerous headlines, from Daniels’ ex-attorney saying he would testify against his former client to a man setting himself on fire outside the courthouse where Trump’s case was proceeding.

On Friday, the trial ended with Judge Juan Merchan ordering Trump to remain seated until Merchan left. As Merchan reviewed the details of a contempt hearing for Trump’s repeated violation of a gag order, the former president suddenly stood up. Merchan quickly ordered Trump to sit back down, saying, “Sir, can you please have a seat.”

Trump immediately sat down. The former president sat fuming until dismissed from court, where he made a beeline for the exit, ignoring reporters.

Following the incident, Trump’s legal team attempted to halt the trial due to “prejudicial pretrial publicity.”

“The fair and impartial jury cannot be selected in New York county as evidenced by the extreme difficulty in procuring a venire resulting from the significant bias against President Trump that permeates the jury pool,” Trump’s lawyers wrote about the jury. Jury selection had taken five days.

With the trials in full swing, House Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) proposed a new bill that would strip Trump of Secret Service protection if convicted.