Hush money trial: Court fines Trump $9,000 for violating gag order

Manhattan court Judge Juan Merchan has ordered former President Trump to pay $9,000 in fines for repeatedly violating his gag order.

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 said Trump violated the order nine times in recent weeks in posts on Trump’s Truth Social platform and campaign website.

He fined Trump $9,000, or $1,000 for each violation, and ordered him to delete the posts.

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.