Trump fined $9,000 for breaking gag order on trial – 2024-05-01 20:42:37

Former President Donald J. Trump faces a new legal problem after being found guilty of contempt by Judge Juan M. Merchán in New York court, where the businessman faces trial for falsifying business records.

According to the media Telemundo 51Trump would have been fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order prohibiting him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and others related to the case.

The fine was issued this Tuesday, April 30, and represents a small reprimand against the magnate, who claimed that he was only exercising his right to freedom of expression.

In this regard, Judge Merchán warned that, in the event of future violations, the Republican could end up receiving a prison sentence.

While prosecutors initially alleged the existence of 10 such violations, the judge only considered nine of them. Now, the businessman must pay said fine before the close of operations next Friday, as well as delete seven offensive publications from his Truth Social account and another two from his campaign website.

For its part, the court will begin evaluating other possible violations of the gag order by Trump, with arguments scheduled for this Thursday, May 2.

This fine comes in the middle of the second week of testimony in his case, where Manhattan prosecutors accuse him of having paid a large amount of money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep her silent about an extramarital affair that could have affected his 2016 campaign.

For now, the testimonies of several witnesses have been heard, including the magnate’s former executive assistant, Rhona Graff, and the former editor of the National Enquirer, David Pecker.

Prosecutors are building this case based on the exchange of emails between those involved, business transactions and the bank accounts of Trump and his company, with crucial testimony from Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, still pending.

In this trial, Trump faces 34 charges, each punishable by up to four years in prison. At the moment, the process is expected to last about two months, although this is only the first of four trials that the businessman faces alongside his aspirations to return to the White House.