Former President Donald Trump has been fined and warned by a judge in New York for violating a gag order.
The gag order was issued by Judge Juan Merchan ahead of Trump's trial for falsifying business records to reimburse his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels just days ahead of the 2016 election.
The order prohibited Trump from publicly attacking witnesses, jurors, or court staff, and their relatives.
Merchan held Trump in contempt of court for multiple violations of the partial gag order and fined him $1,000 each for nine specific instances.
In addition, Trump was instructed to remove seven "offending posts" from his Truth Social account and two from a campaign website.
The judge warned that Trump could face jail time if he continues to violate the gag order. The trial is historic as it is the first ever of a former US president, and it is restricting Trump's time on the campaign trail less than seven months before his likely November election rematch with Democrat Joe Biden.
Prosecutors allege that Trump made the hush money payment to Daniels to silence her about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter that could have potentially derailed his 2016 White House bid.
Trump denies the allegations and has used appearances outside the Manhattan courtroom to rail against his indictment, claiming it is a "witch hunt" by Democrats to torpedo his campaign to recapture the presidency.
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The trial has also seen Keith Davidson, an attorney for Daniels and Karen McDougal, a Playboy model who also claimed to have had an affair with Trump, take the witness stand. Davidson testified that he was negotiating before the 2016 election to sell McDougal's story to ABC News or American Media Inc, publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid.
He also revealed that McDougal's story was eventually purchased by AMI for $150,000 and then buried, according to testimony last week by David Pecker, the former publisher of the tabloid.
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