Trump fined $9,000 for social media posts, faces arrest threat
Photo: Former US President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
A New York judge has found former US President Donald Trump guilty of violating a restriction on publishing information about his trial on social media and ordered him to pay a $9,000 fine, according to NBC News.
As reported, the judge found Trump guilty of contempt of court for nine violations of his gag order, imposing a fine of $1,000 for each instance.
The judge also warned that he would not tolerate further violations of his orders and emphasized that "if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances," he would impose a prison sentence on the former president.
Trump's trial
Last week, a criminal trial against former US President Donald Trump began in New York City on charges of attempting to bribe porn actress Stormy Daniels to keep information about their sexual relationship private.
Trump is accused of trying to bribe porn actress Stormy Daniels for 130,000 dollars in 2014 through his lawyer Michael Cohen to prevent her from publicizing the statements about sexual relations with the former president. At the same time, Trump denies the fact of this meeting.
Prosecutors claim that the payments to Cohen were incorrectly registered as legal fees. Prosecutors referred to the money as part of a scheme to conceal scandalous stories that, Trump feared, could help his opponent in the 2016 election.
In turn, Trump admitted that he reimbursed Cohen and claimed it was done to prevent Daniels from disclosing information about a possible meeting. However, he stated that it was not related to the election campaign.
The prosecutors wrote that the judge should urge Trump to comply with the gag order and warn him that further violations could result in not only additional fines but also imprisonment.
If Trump is found guilty, he could face up to four years in prison.
