NEW YORK: On Tuesday, April 30, the judge presiding over Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial fined the former US president US$9,000 for contempt of court and threatened to jail him if he disregarded a gag order.
Justice Juan Merchan expressed his regret that he lacked the power to impose a harsher punishment in a written ruling, stating that the fine might not be sufficient to discourage the wealthy businessman who became politician.
The defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceration punishment,” said Merchan in a letter.
Merchan issued the gag order to prevent Trump from disparaging witnesses and other parties involved in the case.
Trump stated that he had broken his order not to disparage witnesses or other participants in the trial, and the judge punished him US$1,000 for each of the nine remarks he made on the internet. Ten posts have been marked as potential offenses by prosecutors. Among the postings from April 10 to April 17 was one in which Michael Cohen, his former attorney, was referred to as a “serial liar”. Cohen is anticipated to testify in the trial with prominence.
An assertion made by a Fox News pundit that “undercover liberal activists” were attempting to infiltrate the jury was cited in another post. Merchan disagreed with Trump’s claim that he shouldn’t be held accountable for “reposts” of content he didn’t author.
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