The judge in the ongoing trial of Donald Trump ruled today that the former US president violated a court order for the tenth time, which prohibits him from attacking witnesses and other persons connected to the criminal proceedings. For a new case of contempt of court, the defendant was fined another $1,000, which is roughly 23,000 crowns. At the same time, the judge warned Trump that in case of further unauthorized statements, he would have to consider his imprisonment.
“The last thing I want to do is send you to prison,” New York Judge Juan Merchan said, according to The New York Times (NYT). He said, however, that the thousand-dollar fines, which is the maximum amount, do not have the desired effect, and that Trump’s comments are a direct attack on the legal order. “I can’t let this go on,” Merchan said.
The warning came at the start of the third week of testimony in the Manhattan court. The former president faces allegations that he falsified three dozen financial records after his election in 2016 in an attempt to cover up a hush-hush payment to porn actress Stephanie Clifford, known by the stage name Stormy Daniels. Right before the election, Trump’s lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, paid her $130,000 to keep her from going public with the claim that she had an affair with Trump ten years earlier.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and portrayed himself as the victim of a politically motivated prosecution as he seeks to return to the White House after four years. Similar to other cases he faces, he verbally attacks the prosecutors, Judge Merchan and the expected witnesses. Before the main part of the trial began, the judge issued an order prohibiting public statements about witnesses, jurors and some other persons.
Last week, at the request of the prosecution, he ruled that Trump had committed nine counts of contempt of court and fined him $9,000. The tenth offense then related to the statement when Trump declared that the jury included only supporters of the Democratic Party. “This court will have to consider a prison sentence,” Merchan said of any further violations of the trial’s rules.
