NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A New York judge overseeing Donald Trump’s hush money trial imposed a fine on the former president on Tuesday for breaching a gag order and cautioned that further infractions could lead to imprisonment.
Trump, 77, is charged with falsifying business records to reimburse his attorney, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election, in which Trump ran against Hillary Clinton.
On Tuesday, Keith Davidson, Daniels’ former attorney, testified for several hours about his negotiations with Cohen to secure Daniels’ silence regarding an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump.
Prior to Davidson’s testimony, Judge Juan Merchan found Trump in contempt of court for multiple breaches of a gag order he had imposed, which barred Trump from publicly criticizing witnesses, jurors, court staff, or their relatives.
Trump was fined $1,000 for each of nine specific violations of the gag order and was instructed to delete seven “offending posts” from his Truth Social account and two from a campaign website. These posts were removed by Tuesday afternoon.
Expressing regret that he couldn’t impose a fine “more proportional to the wealth of the contemnor,” Judge Merchan warned Trump—who is the first former president to face criminal charges—that continued violations could result in jail time.
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.
Merchan
Prosecutors claim that Trump’s hush money payment to Daniels was intended to keep her quiet about a 2006 encounter at a celebrity golf event, which could have jeopardized his 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump denies any sexual involvement with Daniels and has used his public appearances to denounce the case as a “witch hunt” by Democrats aimed at derailing his campaign to reclaim the White House.
After court adjourned on Tuesday afternoon, Trump criticized the gag order as “completely unconstitutional” and argued that he should be campaigning for his anticipated rematch with President Joe Biden.
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“I should be in Georgia, New Hampshire, Ohio, and many other places,” the Republican candidate said. “Instead, they have me here for a Biden trial.”
With court not in session on Wednesday, Trump plans to attend campaign events in Michigan and Wisconsin, his first since the trial began.
Davidson, who took the stand that day, previously represented Daniels and Karen McDougal, a Playboy model who also claimed an affair with Trump.
Davidson testified that he was negotiating before the 2016 election to sell McDougal’s story to ABC News or American Media Inc, publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid.
“I have a blockbuster Trump story,” Davidson told National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard, who responded with, “Did he cheat on Melania?”
McDougal’s story was eventually bought by AMI for $150,000 and then suppressed, according to testimony from David Pecker, the former publisher of the tabloid, in a practice known as “catch and kill.”
Regarding the hush money paid to Daniels, Davidson stated that it was clear from his dealings with Cohen that Cohen was negotiating on behalf of Trump.
“I don’t know if it was ever explicitly stated ‘I’m negotiating this for Donald Trump,’” Davidson said, but “(Cohen) made it clear at every opportunity he was working for Donald Trump.”
Davidson noted that the non-disclosure agreement between Trump and Daniels was finalized just days before the 2016 election, using the pseudonyms David Dennison and Peggy Peterson.
Cohen, now a vocal critic of Trump, and Daniels are expected to testify for the prosecution.
In addition to the New York case, Trump faces indictments in Washington and Georgia on charges related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as charges in Florida for allegedly mishandling classified documents post-presidency.
