New York: the New York judge presiding over Donald Trump’s money laundering case on Tuesday fined the former president for violating an executive order and warned that further violations could land him in prison.
Trump, 77, is accused of falsifying business records to get his lawyer Michael Cohen to pay $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels, who ran against Hillary Clinton, days before the 2016 election.
Daniels’ former attorney, Keith Davidson, spent hours on the witness stand Tuesday testifying about conversations between Cohen and the X-Men to ensure the star’s 2006 sexual relationship with Trump was preserved.
Before Davidson’s testimony, Judge Juan Mercant held Trump in violation of numerous orders issued to the former president before the trial, prohibiting him from publicly attacking witnesses, jurors or court officials and their relatives.
Trump was fined $1,000 each for nine violations of the gag order and ordered to remove seven “offensive posts” from his Truth Social account and two from his campaign website. The post was removed on Tuesday afternoon.
Trump, the first former president to be convicted of the crime, has warned he could face prison if he violates the order, complaining that judges cannot impose fines “more commensurate with the wealth of the payer.”
“The defendants have been warned that they will not tolerate willful violations of the court’s legal orders and that they will be sentenced to prison and conditions if necessary,” said Merchan.
Prosecutors say Daniels paid him to cover up a 2006 attempt at a celebrity golf tournament that could have undermined Trump’s bid for the White House in 2016.
Trump denied having sex with Daniels and, speaking in a Manhattan courtroom, said the campaign to retake the White House was a “witch hunt” by Democrats.
Speaking to reporters after concluding Tuesday afternoon, Trump attacked the gag order as “fundamentally unconstitutional” and said he should campaign to unify with President Joe Biden in November.
“I’ve got to be in Georgia, I’ve got to be in New Hampshire, I’ve got to be in Ohio and a lot of other places,” the Republican candidate said. “They put me here for the Biden trial.”
He will not be in court on Wednesday, and Trump has scheduled campaign events in Michigan and Wisconsin, the first since the trial began.
Davidson, the star witness of the day, was the lawyer for Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also claimed to have had an affair with Trump.
Davidson said before the 2016 election that he was in talks to sell the McDougall story to ABC News or American Media Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer tabloid.
“I have the best Trump story,” he said.
McDougal’s story was eventually bought by AMI for $150,000 and later buried, according to the testimony of David Packer, former publisher of the tabloid known as “catch and kill” on this site last week.
As for Daniels overpayment, Davidson explained to the court that a real estate “fixer” of his relationship with Cohen was negotiating on Trump’s behalf.
Davidson said the nondisclosure agreement between Trump and Daniels expired days before the 2016 election, when the couple used the aliases David Dennison and Peggy Peterson.
Cohen, who has been a vocal critic of Trump, and Daniels are expected to testify for the lawsuit.
In addition to the New York case, Trump is accused of conspiring to sway the 2020 elections in Washington and Georgia.
He was also accused in Florida of leaking classified documents after leaving the White House. APPLICATIONS
Judge threatens Trump with jail over gag order violations
