The judge overseeing Donald Trump's criminal case in the so-called "money for silence" case fined the former US president $9,000 for contempt of office and said he would consider impeachment in prison if he continues to violate the order of silence, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
In a written order, Judge Juan Mercan said the fine may not be enough to act as a deterrent to the wealthy businessman-turned-politician, and expressed regret that he did not have the power to impose a more severe punishment.
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"The defendant is hereby warned that the court will not tolerate the willful violation of his lawful orders and that if this is necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose a prison sentence on him,", Merchan wrote.
Merchan imposed the gag order to prevent Trump from criticizing witnesses and others involved in the case.
The judge fined Trump $1,000 for each of his nine online statements, which he said violated his order not to criticize witnesses or other trial participants. Prosecutors had flagged 10 posts as possible violations.
Posts made between April 10 and 17 included an article in which Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, was called a "serial liar". Cohen is expected to be an important witness in the Republican trial against the former president.
At a hearing on Thursday, Mercan will consider whether to impose additional sanctions for other statements. The judge also ordered Trump to remove the statements from his social network account "Truth Social" and from your campaign website.
Trump has argued that the gag order violates his right to free speech, and his lawyer, Todd Blanche, told Merchan last week that the statements in question were in response to political attacks. Merchan notes that Blanche has failed to present any evidence that the expected witnesses made any attacks on Trump before he insulted them.
The $9,000 fine, which must be paid by Friday, is a relatively small penalty for Trump.
Trump, the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election, is accused of falsifying business documents to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about their alleged intimate encounter. she had with Trump in 2006. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies having intimate contact with the porn star.
The criminal case is one of four pending against Trump, but could be the only one that will go to trial and result in a verdict before the Nov. 5 presidential election, Reuters notes.