NEW YORK — The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money trial fined him $1,000 for violating the gag order and issued a stern warning to the former president that further violations could lead to prison time. .
The fine is Trump’s second sanction for incendiary comments directed at witnesses since the trial began last month. He was fined $9,000 for nine violations last week.
Judge Juan M. Marchan warned Monday that further violations of the gag order could lead to prison time, but said that was “the last thing I want to do.”
Trump administration prosecutors hush money trial They are digging deeper into his orbit following internal accounts of the former president’s reactions to politically damaging recordings that surfaced in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign.
Hope HicksThe former White House official and longtime top aide is by far the closest of Trump’s aides to testify at the Manhattan trial.
Her testimony Friday was aimed at giving jurors an inside perspective on a chaotic and pivotal phase of the campaign. Recorded in 2005 President Trump was released talking about grabbing women without their permission, as he and his allies tried to block the publication of other potentially embarrassing stories. Prosecutors said the effort also included hush money payments to a porn actor and a Playboy model who said they had sexual relationships with Trump before entering politics.
“I think this is going to be big news and will dominate the news cycle for the next few days,” Hicks said of the “Access Hollywood” recording, which was first revealed in Washington in October 2016. I believed it wisely.” post story. “This was a detrimental development.”
The trial enters its third week of testimony on Monday, and prosecutors are preparing for their star witness. michael coenTrump’s former lawyer and personal fixer. Pleaded guilty to federal charges related to hush money payments. Cohen is expected to face harrowing cross-examination from defense attorneys seeking to undermine the jury’s credibility.
President Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with payments made to suppress potentially embarrassing stories. Prosecutors alleged that Mr. Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, reimbursed Mr. Cohen for payments to porn actor Stormy Daniels and gave Mr. Cohen bonuses and additional payments. Prosecutors claim these transactions were incorrectly recorded in company records as legal expenses.
President Trump has maintained his innocence and denied any sexual contact with the women or any wrongdoing.
So far, jurors have heard from the following witnesses: Tabloid publisher and Trump friend who bought the rights To keep them out of the public eye for some sordid stories about Trump. los angeles lawyer Negotiated hush money on behalf of both Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougall.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers are trying to undermine the prosecution’s theory of the case and the credibility of some witnesses.
In cross-examination, they raised questions about whether President Trump may have been the target of blackmail or was forced to arrange payoffs to suppress harmful reporting and avoid embarrassment and distress for his family. did. Prosecutors allege the payments were intended to maintain his political survival as he sought to become president.
The case is one of four indicted by President Trump, and likely the only one to go to trial before the November election. Charged with other felonies: Plotting to subvert the 2020 presidential election After he lost to Democrat Joe Biden; Illegal storage of confidential documents After he left the White House.
