According to reports,Donald Trump is back in court on Tuesday, as his criminal “hush money” trial enters a third week.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had accused Trump of violating the order 11 times last week, calling on Merchan to impose a $1,000 fine for each incident. Merchan sided with prosecutors on nine of the instances.
Merchan imposed the gag order on on Trump on April 1, prohibiting him from speaking publicly about witnesses and the family members of certain court officials.
However, the judge stated that Trump breached the order nine times in recent weeks in messages on Trump’s Truth Social platform and campaign website.
He levied a $9,000 penalty on Trump, equating to $1,000 for each violation, and instructed him to remove the messages.
He wrote that Trump “violated the Order by making social media posts about known witnesses pertaining to their participation in this criminal proceeding and by making public statements about jurors in this criminal proceeding.”
He also warned Trump that he could be jailed for further gag order violations.
