On Tuesday morning‚ acting Justice Juan Merchan held Donald Trump in contempt‚ claiming he violated his gag order by sharing posts on social media‚ according to live updates from the courtroom. Trump faces fines of $1‚000 for each violation.Merchan previously placed a gag order on the former president‚ prohibiting him from making public comments about anyone involved in the trial and their family members. Prior to going to trial‚ Trump’s legal team made multiple attempts to overturn the restrictive order; all attempts were denied.Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) accused Trump of violating the order‚ referring to 10 social media posts published on Truth Social. In one of the posts‚ Trump mentions “two sleazebags‚” which the prosecution argued referred to former Trump attorney Michael Cohen and porn actress Stormy Daniels. Both are expected to testify against Trump in the New York criminal trial.In a court filing last week‚ Bragg urged the judge to remind Trump that he could face jail time for violating the gag order. Bragg also requested that the former president be held in contempt and forced to pay $1‚000 per post. During last Tuesday’s trial‚ prosecutor Chris Conroy claimed that the social media posts “pose[d] a very real threat” to the court’s proceedings by allegedly attacking the witness’ “credibility.”Merchan and Todd Blanche‚ Trump’s lawyer‚ got into a somewhat heated exchange over whether Trump violated the order. Blanche contended that Trump’s posts had nothing to do with the case and were responses to political attacks from Cohen and Daniels. Trump and his legal team have repeatedly mentioned that neither witness has been prohibited from making disparaging comments about Trump‚ the case against him‚ or his political campaign. “President Trump is allowed to respond to political attacks‚” Blanche told Merchan last week.Merchan demanded Blanche provide specific examples of comments made by Cohen and Daniels that Trump was replying to in his social media posts. Blanche responded to the request by stating the two had made repeated remarks and had recently “ramped up their political attacks and their attacks on him as a candidate as well.”The judge was reportedly unsatisfied with Blanche’s reply and asked for precise examples again. “What I do see is I keep asking you over and over again for a specific answer‚ and I’m not getting an answer‚” Merchan told Blanche. “I’ve asked you eight or nine times to show me the exact post he was responding to. You’ve been unable to do that even once.”Merchan warned Blanche that he was “losing all credibility with the court.”Blanche maintained that Trump is “being very careful to comply” with Merchan’s order.Last week‚ Trump posted on Truth Social‚ “We have a Rigged Judge‚ who is working for the Democrat Party and refuses to terminate this ‘case‚’ which should have never been brought by Soft on Crime Alvin Bragg. Judge Merchan should [be] immediately removed‚ and the Appellate Courts have to take over.”The trial continued Thursday morning‚ with the prosecution claiming that Trump violated the gag order several more times over the past few days. During a news interview earlier in the week‚ Trump stated that the jury pool consisted of 95% Democrats. According to the prosecution‚ these comments also violated the judge’s order.Additionally‚ Trump referred to witness and former tabloid publisher David Pecker as “nice” on Thursday morning.Conroy argued‚ “This is a message to Pecker. Be nice. It’s a message to others.”On Tuesday‚ the judge decided to side with the prosecution‚ declaring that Trump violated his gag order in multiple instances presented. As a result of Merchan’s latest ruling‚ Trump will have to pay $1‚000 each for nine violations. He was also ordered to remove the “offending posts” from Truth Social‚ as well as two “offending posts” from his campaign website.“THEREFORE‚ Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances‚ it will impose an incarceratory punishment‚” Merchan’s order read.Like Blaze News&;#63; Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here&;#33;

A North Carolina pastor is going viral on social media for slamming the Donald Trump-endorsed &;quot;God Bless the USA&;quot; Bible. In March‚ Trump began promoting the &;quot;God Bless the USA&;quot; Bible for $60. The Bible includes a copy of the U.S. Constitution‚ the Bill of Rights‚ the Declaration of Independence‚ the Pledge of Allegiance‚ and the chorus to Lee Greenwood's song &;quot;God Bless the USA.&;quot; The Bible uses the King James Version translation.In a now-viral sermon this month‚ Pastor Loran Livingston of Central Church in Charlotte blasted the &;quot;disgusting&;quot; and &;quot;blasphemous&;quot; Bible.Livingston invoked the Trump-endorsed Bible while teaching on the importance of prayer and Bible-reading in a Christian's life‚ using the Trump Bible as a negative example of Christians who believe that political engagement is a &;quot;spiritual responsibility.&;quot;&;quot;When you don’t read and pray. You‚ you say‚ 'Wow‚ there’s a Bible out now that includes the Constitution and the Bill of Rights&;#33; Isn’t that wonderful&;#63;&;#33;' No‚ no. It’s disgusting&;#33; It’s blasphemous&;#33; It’s a ploy&;#33;&;quot; Livingston explained.There is nothing &;quot;encouraging&;quot; about the Trump Bible‚ the pastor said‚ because the Gospel of Jesus Christ &;quot;is not an American gospel.&;quot;Moreover‚ Livingston said the problem with the Bible is that its creator took man-made documents that focus on man and spliced it together with the &;quot;Word of God‚&;quot; which focuses on God.&;quot;Now you can get mad if you want to‚ but I’m going to tell you something: If you glory in that kind of thing‚ you don’t have a prayer life‚&;quot; Livingston added. &;quot;If you glory in that kind of political mess‚ you do not know what the Word of God says.&;quot;(The relevant portion begins around the 69 minute-mark): How Far Behind are You Following&;#63; - April 14‚ 2024 10:30 am - #centralchurchnc Live Stream www.youtube.com But make no mistake about it: Livingston is no liberal.In fact‚ just prior to slamming the Trump-endorsed Bible‚ Livingston condemned the LGBTQ movement and abortion as antithetical to the Christian life.Meanwhile‚ Livingston is not the first Christian to raise concerns about the Trump-endorsed Bible. Andrew Walker‚ a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary‚ wrote in an essay after Trump began promoting the Bible that it should have never been made.&;quot;To put matters bluntly‚ a Bible like this should never have been made‚&;quot; Walker said. &;quot;Trump peddling a patriotic Bible is gimmicky civil religion. Even if Bibles like this are a well-worn gimmick by now‚ the Bible is no prop‚ and Christians would do well to resist the syncretistic ploy of melding church and state in this way.&;quot;Like Blaze News&;#63; Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here&;#33;

Earth recently received a laser transmission from a record-breaking 140 million miles away. The development could present major consequences for the future of space travel‚ according to a recent report by NASA.While this transmission seems like it could be extraterrestrial in origin‚ it is not. The transmission was sent from NASA's Psyche spacecraft‚ which is located around 1.5 times the distance between Earth and the Sun.This breakthrough was achieved by using a Psyche feature called Deep Space Optical Communications‚ per the New York Post. The primary objective of the project is to investigate the metal asteroid known as 16 Psyche in the hopes of discovering gems. The asteroid is expected to be around four billion miles away.Meera Srinivasan — the project's operations lead at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California — said: &;quot;We downlinked about 10 minutes of duplicated spacecraft data during a pass on April 8.&;quot;“Until then‚ we’d been sending test and diagnostic data in our downlinks from Psyche. This represents a significant milestone for the project by showing how optical communications can interface with a spacecraft’s radio frequency comms system.”The Post mentioned that NASA wanted to demonstrate the potential for laser communications to be carried out across large distances in space‚ which is 10 to 100 times what is currently available.The development of this technology could have a large impact on the future of human space travel.NASA stated:NASA’s optical communications demonstration has shown that it can transmit test data at a maximum rate of 267 megabits per second (Mbps) from the flight laser transceiver’s near-infrared downlink laser — a bit rate comparable to broadband internet download speeds.That was achieved on Dec. 11‚ 2023‚ when the experiment beamed a 15-second ultra-high-definition video to Earth from 19 million miles away (31 million kilometers‚ or about 80 times the Earth-Moon distance). The video‚ along with other test data‚ including digital versions of Arizona State University’s Psyche Inspired artwork‚ had been loaded onto the flight laser transceiver before Psyche launched last year.The Psyche spacecraft is expected to move by Mars — humanity's next great mission — in 2026‚ and then it will continue its journey to its final destination‚ 16 Psyche‚ by 2029.The spacecraft will ultimately aim to map out the rest of the surrounding region and possibly discover precious metals on 16 Psyche. Like Blaze News&;#63; Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here&;#33;

The time for ‘continuity’ is over.

Princeton professor Max Weiss led a chant announcing that students and a faculty member had occupied the building. 

The comical self-aggrandizement of the student protesters.

Trump was fined $1‚000 for each of the nine gag-order violations.

So what is the Supreme Court really doing here&;#63;

A crucial due-process provision is meant to prevent exactly what the DA has done: force a defendant to go to trial without being put on notice of the charge.

'Lost the PLOT'&;#33; Iowahawk OWNS Judd Legume in SPECTACULAR Thread for Tone-Deaf Dig at 'Free Speech Crowd'