Trump hush-money trial judge to weigh more fines for defying gag order
By Jack Queen, Brendan Pierson and Andy Sullivan
NEW YORK (Reuters) -New York prosecutors on Thursday will ask the judge overseeing Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial to impose more fines on the former U.S. president for violating a gag order that prohibits him from talking about witnesses and jurors.
The $4,000 total penalty prosecutors are seeking would be on top of a $9,000 fine Justice Juan Merchan imposed on Tuesday, when he held the Republican presidential candidate in contempt of court for social media posts that questioned the jury selection process and insulted his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who is expected to be a crucial witness.
Merchan said on Tuesday that he might jail Trump if he continues to defy the gag order, saying the fines allowed by New York law - $1,000 per violation - might not be enough to serve as a deterrent for the wealthy businessman-turned-politician.
The gag order aims to prevent one of the world's most prominent people from intimidating witnesses, jurors and other participants in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president. It does not prevent Trump from criticizing prosecutors or the judge himself.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-hush-money-trial-judge-to-weigh-more-fines-for-defying-gag-order/ar-AA1o2qJm
I can see Trump's next grift coming up, "Help me pay my fines!!!!"