30th April, 2024
Judge Merchan has fined former U.S. President Donald Trump $9,000 for violating his gag order and was found in contempt of court.
Trump was fined $1,000 (£799) for each breach. There are nine total counts. That means Trump will have to pay $9,000.
The judge also ruled that Trump could attend his son’s graduation, letting him skip court 17 May and 3 June.
“This Court rejects Defendant’s arguments and finds that the People have established the elements of criminal contempt beyond a reasonable doubt as to Exhibits 2-10.
“Defendant violated the Order by making social media posts about known witnesses pertaining to their participation in this criminal proceeding and by making public statements about jurors in this criminal proceeding,” the Judge said.
According to CNN, The nine incidents represent seven posts and reposts on Truth Social and two posts on Trump’s campaign website.
He was fined $1,000 for each violation, must pay the fine by the close of business Friday and must remove the posts by 2:15 p.m. today.
Merchan also threatened incarceration if Trump willfully violated the gag order again.
“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,” he said.
The gag order restricts prosecutors and the defense from commenting on court figures outside of the courtroom.
The defence is done with Gary Farro, a banker, after asking him about the $130,000 (£104,000) transaction paid to porn star Stormy Daniels
Trump is accused of trying to cover up a $130,000 (£104,500) payment to Daniels before he won the 2016 election, which prosecutors say was election interference
He has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records and denies any sexual encounter with Daniels