April 30 (UPI) — Donald Trump on Tuesday was held in criminal contempt and slapped with a $9,000 fine by Judge Juan Merchan for nine gag order violations as his hush-money trial resumed in the morning hours.
“Defendant 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,” the judge’s ruling stated.
Trump’s punishment was $1,000 for each gag order violation and he was ordered to remove certain social media posts by 2:15 p.m. EDT Tuesday. Merchant had also indicated possible jail time for Trump was not off the table.
Prosecutors in the case against Trump had flagged other comments Trump made since last week about Michael Cohen and David Pecker. Merchan scheduled a separate hearing Thursday to address Trump’s new comments.
The former president’s hush-money trial resumed later Tuesday morning as witness Gary Farro took the stand again for the prosecution as week three of the Republican presidential candidate’s hush-money trial opened. Farro, who was Michael Cohen’s banker, is expected to detail how his client borrowed against his home to pay off Stormy Daniels.
The private client adviser will guide jurors through the paper trail for the home equity line of credit Cohen took out in a session explaining documents and banking regulations and processes that prosecutors have warned will feature heavily in the trial.
The prosecution’s third witness spent much of Friday talking the jury through the paperwork for a shell company and related bank account Cohen opened in Delaware to pay the National Enquirers’s parent company for the rights to a story alleging an affair between Trump and Playboy model Karen McDougal.
The former First Republic managing director testified that no money was transferred to the account in the end, instead detailing records showing Cohen opened an account in October 2016 in the name of a limited liability company called Essential Consultants.
That company account was allegedly used to wire $130,000 to Daniels to keep quiet about the alleged sexual affair with Trump.
The alleged setting-up by Cohen of two LLCs to facilitate hush-money payments to cover up the alleged extramarital affairs by Trump which it was feared, coming on the heels of the leaking of the infamous Access Hollywood tape, could decimate his chance of winning the presidency, is central to the prosecution’s case.
Earlier Friday, the defense took its turn to cross-examine National Enquirer publisher David Pecker who testified he wanted no part in publishing the story about the former president’s alleged affair with Daniels but denied it had anything to do with the so-called “catch-and-kill” scheme agreed with Trump in 2015.
Pecker was followed by longtime executive assistant to Trump, Rhona Graff, who testified that while she had seen Daniels in the reception area of 26th of Trump Tower in Manhattan some time before the 2016 election, she believed her presence was to discuss being cast in his NBC reality show The Celebrity Apprentice.
Trump is being tried by the State of New York on 34 counts of falsifying business records. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
