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Donald Trump has been found in contempt of court and fined $9,000 for repeatedly attacking potential witnesses and jurors in his Manhattan “hush money” case, in violation of a gag order imposed on the former president in his first criminal trial.
Justice Juan Merchan on Tuesday ruled that nine statements on social media and Trump’s presidential campaign website had violated the order, and imposed a fine of $1,000 apiece — the maximum financial penalty allowed by New York law.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, had assailed his former fixer Michael Cohen, who is expected to be a key witness at trial, referring to him as a “serial perjurer”. He had also called Cohen and porn actor Stormy Daniels “sleaze bags” on his Truth Social platform, calling their credibility into question. Daniels is also likely to testify at the ongoing trial, which is entering its third week.
Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to $130,000 paid to Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election, which Manhattan prosecutors said was used to buy her silence over an alleged extramarital affair.
Trump had separately reposted a quote from Fox News host Jesse Watters claiming that “undercover Liberal Activists” were attempting to get seated as jurors in the Manhattan case.
His legal team had presented a series of defences, arguing that Trump was merely responding to “political attacks” and was thus protected by the US constitution’s first amendment, and that in many cases he was merely reposting comments made by others.
But Merchan found that in all but one instance identified by Manhattan prosecutors — the “sleaze bags” post, which may have been a response to posts by Cohen — Trump had breached the order.
In a written ruling, Merchan lamented that the fine “unfortunately will not achieve the desired result in those instances where [Trump] can easily afford such a fine”, but said he was constrained by New York law.
However, in cases where a monetary fine is ineffective, the court could “consider” incarcerating a defendant instead, as “jail may be a necessary punishment”, Merchan added. Under New York law, criminal contempt is also punishable by up to 30 days in jail.
Trump, who sat silently as Merchan found him in contempt, had called the trial a “disgraceful case” and “a disgrace to the New York City courts” on his way into the courtroom.
He is facing three other criminal cases and had previously been held in contempt of court in a civil fraud case brought by the New York attorney-general. That civil case resulted in a nearly half-billion dollar penalty against Trump and his business empire, which he is appealing against.