The judge overseeing Trump’s hush money criminal trial in New York City fined him $9,000 on Tuesday for repeatedly violating a gag order that prohibits him from making verbal attacks on witnesses and jurors. The judge threatened to put Trump behind bars if he continued to violate the order, the New York Times reports. Judge Juan Merchan said in a written ruling that he was “keenly aware of, and protective of, Defendant’s First Amendment rights," but said he would not tolerate continued violations of his orders and he would “impose an incarceratory sentence” if necessary. Prosecutors had asked that Trump be held in contempt for attacks on expected witnesses Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, as well as the jury.
After the ruling, prosecutors resumed their questioning of Gary Farro, a banker who helped Cohen open the account that he used to pay Daniels in a $130,000 hush-money deal in 2016. Once Farro completes his testimony, the prosecutors might delve deeper into the details of how the deal came about. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied that he had sex with Daniels, which is not the basis of the charges involving the filing of false business records.