WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 20: U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters while hosting Republican Congressional leaders and members of his cabinet in the Oval Office at the White House July 20, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump and his guests talked about a proposed new round of financial stimulus to help the economy during the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Doug Mills/Getty Images)
Former US President Donald Trump has been fined $9,000 for violating a gag order in his ongoing hush money trial.
In the ruling on Tuesday, Juan Merchan, the presiding judge, said Trump risks being jailed if he continues to violate the gag order.
The judge ruled that Trump must pay the $9,000 fine by the end of the week and also remove the seven “offending posts” from Truth Social and the two “offending posts” from his campaign website by 2:15 p.m. ET.
“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,” the judge wrote in his ruling.
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Merchan had imposed the gag order to prevent Trump from criticising witnesses and others involved in the case.
The judge fined Trump $1,000 for each of nine online statements that he said violated the order as prosecutors had flagged 10 posts as possible violations.
Although the $9,000 fine is a relatively small penalty for Trump compared to the nearly $354.9 million he was compelled to pay in the civil fraud case, imprisonment would be an unprecedented twist in the many legal hurdles of the former president.
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Trump, who seeks a comeback to the White House in November, is charged with falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about a sexual encounter she claimed happened with the former president in 2006.
Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied having sex with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
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