Trump Fined $9K in NY Hush Money Trial for Gag Order Violations, Warned of Jail Time

During the New York hush money trial against Donald Trump, Judge Juan Merchan fined the former president $9,000 for violating his gag order barring public discussion of witnesses and jurors in the case. The fine was issued after prosecutors filed a motion accusing Trump of continuing to willfully disregard the court’s orders through social media posts and comments about Cohen, Daniels, and the jury pool. Merchan warned that continued violations could result in imprisonment for up to 30 days. Witness Keith Davidson testified that he negotiated hush money deals with both Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal during Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016, including a $130,00 payment facilitated by Michael Cohen on behalf of Daniels just weeks before the election. Former banker Gary Farro also testified about Cohen’s banking activity around that time, confirming that he pushed his bank to expedite an advance on his home equity line of credit in order to quickly open a new account for Essential Consultants LLC and wire $130,000 to Daniels’ attorney. Prosecutors entered several video clips into evidence during the trial, including snippets from Trump’s 2022 deposition related to his E. Jean Carroll defamation lawsuits. Eric Trump attended the trial on Tuesday alongside Susie Wiles and other allies of the former president who have been visiting him in court instead of at Mar-a-Lago, as Merchan granted their request for May 17 off so that Trump could attend his son Barron’s graduation ceremony without causing a disruption to the trial.