Trump fined $9K for gag order violations in NY hush money trial

Former President Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a fine of $9,000 by Judge Juan Merchan in his New York criminal trial over hush money payments. The penalty was imposed after prosecutors alleged that the former president had breached a gag order at least nine times since the start of the proceedings earlier this month. Each violation carries a potential sanction under state law of up to $1,000. A formal ruling will be issued in due course.
At last week’s hearing on whether Trump was violating the court-imposed restrictions, his lawyer Todd Blanche argued that he had not wilfully breached the order and accused prosecutors of seeking a “pretextual” penalty against him because they were unable to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt. However, Judge Merchan appeared sceptical during proceedings on Tuesday afternoon in Manhattan Supreme Court, at one point describing Trump’s statements as “repeated violations”.
Trump himself has been highly critical of the gag order, calling it “totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL!” and claiming that its prohibitions unjustifiably restricted his ability to counter unfavourable opinions against him. In a post on social media platform Truth Social last week he accused judges who presided over previous legal cases involving himself as being politically motivated.
The gag order prevents Trump from making comments about prosecutors, court staff members or the family of those involved in the case, including Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg – an elected Democrat who brought charges against him for his part in campaign finance violations that involved $130,00 payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels by Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen.
Cohen himself has been a key witness for the prosecution and was sentenced to three years in prison in 2019 after pleading guilty to fraud charges as well as campaign finance violations relating to his role in arranging payments made during the presidential election of that year. Trump’s recent comments about Cohen, whom he described last week as a “convicted liar” and who had gotten into trouble over issues unrelated to their work together, were also deemed by prosecutors to be breaches of the gag order.
Trump faces 34 felony charges in connection with reimbursing Cohen for payments made during the election campaign that aimed at keeping Daniels quiet about an alleged affair between herself and Trump before voters went to the polls in November 2016. Prosecutors have indicated they are not seeking a custodial sentence as punishment, but Judge Merchan’s ruling on Tuesday appeared to suggest he may take other steps against Trump if his behaviour continues along its current course.