The New York judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money trial fined the former president on Tuesday for defying a gag order and warned that further violations could see him thrown in jail.
Trump, 77, is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels just days ahead of the 2016 election, in which Trump ran against Hillary Clinton.
Keith Davidson, Daniels’ former lawyer, spent several hours on the witness stand on Tuesday testifying about the negotiations he held with Cohen to secure the X-rated movie star’s silence about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump.
Before Davidson’s testimony, Judge Juan Merchan held Trump in contempt of court for multiple violations of a gag order he imposed on the former president ahead of the trial prohibiting him from publicly attacking witnesses, jurors or court staff and their relatives.
He fined Trump $1,000 each for nine specific violations of the gag order, and instructed him to remove seven “offending posts” from his Truth Social account and two from a campaign website. The posts were removed Tuesday afternoon.
