Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a $9,000 fine for repeated violations of a court order barring him from disparaging jurors and witnesses during his secret trial in New York.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan fined Trump at the start of the trial Tuesday morning, citing his multiple violations of the silence order Merchan had previously put in effect.
On Thursday morning, a hearing will be held on the issue of professional secrecy violations to determine whether the real estate mogul should be fined even more.
Before issuing the fine, Merchan told Trump that he might attend his son Barron’s graduation on May 17.
The former president had been accused of violating the order 11 times by prosecutors for speaking about people associated with the trial.
His lawyers pushed back, saying Trump’s remarks were intended to defend political attacks against him.
Merchan ruled that the former president, 77, could not disparage jurors or witnesses in the criminal case — nor attack the family of court staff, including his own relatives and those of the district attorney. Alvin Bragg district.
Trump is still allowed to rip Bragg or Judge Merchan as much as he wants.
Trump has repeatedly criticized expected trial witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels in public comments and social media posts in recent days.
Cohen also made comments about Trump on X, but is not subject to court silence and therefore will not be subject to reprimand.
Trump also — in what prosecutors called his “most troubling message” — reposted a quote from a Fox News host who said “they’re catching undercover liberal activists lying to the judge” in order to to be part of the jury.
The court also ordered Trump to remove eight posts from Truth Social and two from his campaign website, which he said targeted the jury as well as Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels.
The jury is supposed to be anonymous, but several potential panelists during jury selection said they feared their identities would be revealed.
The 12 jurors and six alternates come from diverse backgrounds and hold varied jobs, but all have sworn under oath that they are not involved in any political groups for or against Trump.
Courts can technically throw defendants in jail for up to 30 days for violating the silence order, but prosecutors have not asked to jail Trump.
However, they asked the judge to warn that future violations of the silence order could result in prison time.
Trump claimed the silence was “unjust” and that the court was “taking away my constitutional right to speak.”
He has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.
The charges relate to an alleged cover-up of a payment to Daniels — which prosecutors say was part of an illegal conspiracy alongside the National Enquirer magazine to hide stories damaging to voters ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
With post wires
New York Post
