Judge warns Trump he may face jail time after hitting him with new fine for violating gag order
Former US president Donald Trump appeared in court in Manhattan.
THE JUDGE PRESIDING over Donald Trump’s hush money trial has fined him 1,000 dollars (or €927) for violating his gag order – and sternly warned the former president that additional violation could result in jail time.
The fine marks the second sanction for Trump for inflammatory comments about witnesses since the start of the trial last month.
He was fined 9,000 dollars (€8,345) last week for nine violations.
Judge Juan M Merchan warned Trump today in New York that additional gag order violations could potentially result in jail time, though he said that was “the last thing I want to do”.
Prosecutors have said that Trump and others conducted a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election by purchasing and burying salacious stories that might hurt his campaign.
Trump is accused of falsifying internal business records to cover up hush money payments — including 130,000 dollars given to Ms Daniels by Mr Cohen – recording them instead as legal expenses.
He has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The case is the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president and the first of four prosecutions of Trump – the presumptive Republican presidential nominee – to reach a jury.