Prosecutors said Thursday that Donald Trump again violated a gag order in his hush money trial, as the criminal case resumed on the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court weighed whether he should be immune from prosecution for actions taken during his time as president.
Judge Juan M. Merchan was already considering whether to hold Trump in contempt and fine him for what prosecutors say were 10 different violations of the order that barred the GOP leader from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and others connected to the case. Then the prosecution ticked off fresh instances of suspected breaches.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy pointed to additional remarks that Trump made about key prosecution witness Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, when talking to reporters outside the courtroom and in other interviews. He also noted a comment Trump made about the jury being composed of “95 percent Democrats,” among other things.
I think they are fining him, but it’s only $1,000 for every instance? If that’s true, then I know people personally that would never care about that fine, and they aren’t being regularly supported with donations from millions of people.
He can be sentenced to prison for violating the gag order, but that’s rarely necessary, so it wouldn’t be the first step.