US Judge Warns Trump: "Break Gag Order Again and Face Imprisonment"

Former President Donald Trump, who is on criminal trial over allegations of 'hush money' related to a sexual misconduct scandal, was fined again for violating a judge's gag order prohibiting him from disparaging witnesses or jurors. The presiding judge warned that if the disparagement continues, Trump could be detained.

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On the 6th (local time), according to The New York Times (NYT), Judge Juan Merchan of the New York Manhattan Criminal Court imposed a $1,000 fine on former President Trump for an additional violation of the gag order prohibiting disparagement of witnesses. The issue arose when Trump, in an interview with a conservative media outlet on the 22nd of last month, referred to the trial jury as "mostly Democrats" and described the situation as "very unfair."

This is the second time former President Trump has been fined for violating the gag order. Previously, on the 30th of last month, Trump was fined $9,000 for posting on social media and the presidential campaign website, attacking witnesses and jurors a total of nine times.

He had been warned during the first fine that if the gag order violations continued, Trump could be incarcerated if necessary. Judge Merchan reiterated this warning when imposing the fine again, telling Trump, who was seated in the defendant's chair, that further violations could result in detention rather than just fines.

According to the NYT, while Judge Merchan was speaking, former President Trump blinked and stared at him, then shook his head after the remarks concluded.

Former President Trump was criminally indicted and brought to trial in March last year on 34 counts, accused of paying 'hush money' through his personal lawyer Michael Cohen to former adult film actress Stormy Daniels to prevent her from revealing their past sexual encounter shortly before the 2016 presidential election, and of falsifying company records related to those payments.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.