NY. The former American president donald trump was fined this Tuesday $9,000 for insulting witnesses and jurors outside of his judgment criminal in New York, where Judge Juan Merchan warned that he could arrest him if he does it again.
According to Merchan, who announced his decision before trump at the opening of a new trial hearing, the defendant violated the order not to insult witnessesjurors, members of the court or their families.
Trump was fined by nine violations of the order he had received not to attack the court. Each infraction was punished with $1,000 and he was ordered to remove “the offensive comments” no later than this Tuesday afternoon, seven of which were posted on his Truth Social platform and two on his campaign website for the November presidential election.
Merchan warned the former president (2017-2021) that he could be arrested if he reoffended. “The court will not tolerate repeated violations of his orders and if necessary and in appropriate circumstances will impose a prison sentence,” the judge stressed.
READ MORE: Donald Trump’s trial plunges into tabloid press practices
The judge issued his order before testimony resumed in the Republican mogul’s historic trial on charges of falsifying business records to pay hush money to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, with whom he had an alleged extramarital affair.
Trump is the first former US president to face criminal charges, and his required court attendance is limiting full-time dedication to the election campaign less than seven months before his expected rematch with the US president, Democrat Joe Biden, who He beat him in 2020.
Former President Trump Holds Super Tuesday Election Night Event At Mar-A-Lago Judge Juan Merchan warned Donald Trump that he could be arrested if he repeated his attacks on the court.
(WIN MCNAMEE/Getty Images via AFP)
The billionaire is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse his then-attorney, Michael Cohen, for $130,000 funneled to Daniels just days before the 2016 election, in which he defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Daniels, 45, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was threatening at the time to go public with her story about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 that could have derailed her White House campaign.
Trump denies having sexual relations with Daniels and used appearances outside the Manhattan courtroom to criticize her impeachment, saying it constitutes a “witch hunt” launched by Democrats to torpedo his bid to regain the presidency.
READ MORE: Supreme Court skeptical of Donald Trump’s presidential immunity
‘Catch and kill’
Gary Farro, former CEO of the now-defunct First Republic Bank, took the witness stand Tuesday after briefly testifying Friday.
Cohen, a kind of “fixer” of situations for Trump, opened an account in the First Republic on behalf of a company called Essential Consultants to manage the payment to Daniels.
Cohen, who became an outspoken critic of Trump, and Daniels are expected to be star witnesses during the trial.
Donald Trump faces charges of falsifying business records to pay hush money to porn actress Stormy Daniels, with whom he allegedly had an extramarital affair.
(MANDEL NGAN ETHAN MILLER/AFP)
The opening of the trial was dominated last week by testimony from a former editor of the National Enquirer tabloid, who claimed he suppressed potentially damaging stories about Trump.
David Pecker, 72, described a practice known as “catch and kill,” which involved buying and then burying spicy stories that could have been embarrassing to the real estate mogul and hurt his campaign.
For example, the former editor told the court that he paid $30,000 to remove a story by a Trump Tower doorman who was promoting an apparently false claim that the mogul had fathered a child out of wedlock.
