The Latest | Judge finds Trump violated gag order in hush money case 9 times, fines him $9K
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s hush money trial resumes Tuesday with testimony from the third prosecution witness, Gary Farro, a banker who helped Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen open accounts.
Cohen used one to buy the silence of porn performer Stormy Daniels. She alleged a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, which he denies.
The first week of testimony was the scene-setter for jurors: Manhattan prosecutors portrayed what they say was an illegal scheme to influence the 2016 presidential campaign by burying negative stories.
For his part, the former president and presumptive Republican nominee has been campaigning in his off-hours, but is required to be in court when it is in session, four days a week.
The charges center on $130,000 in payments that Trump’s company made to Cohen. Prosecutors say Trump obscured the true nature of those payments and falsely recorded them as legal expenses.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The case is the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president and the first of four prosecutions of Trump to reach a jury.
Currently:
— Key players: Who’s who at Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial
— The hush money case is just one of Trump’s legal cases. See the others here
— These people were charged with interfering in the 2020 election. Some are still in politics today
— The National Enquirer was the go-to American tabloid for many years. Donald Trump helped change that
— Trump and DeSantis meet to make peace and discuss fundraising for the former president’s campaign
Here’s the latest:
JUDGE FINDS TRUMP VIOLATED GAG ORDER, FINES HIM $9K
Judge Juan M. Merchan ruled Tuesday morning that Donald Trump violated a gag order barring him from making public statements about witnesses and jurors in his hush money trial nine times. He fined the former president $9,000 for the violations.
Prosecutors had alleged the former president had violated the order 10 times, and Merchan concurred in all but one of those instances. The judge will hold a hearing Thursday on four more alleged violations.
The former president stared down at the table in front of him as Merchan read the ruling, frowning slightly but otherwise showing no expression.
Merchan wrote in his ruling that Trump “is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders” and raised the possibility of jail time if “necessary and appropriate under the circumstances.”
JUDGE TO ALLOW TRUMP TO ATTEND SON’S GRADUATION
Judge Juan M. Merchan said Tuesday morning that Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial will not be held on May 17 so that the former president can attend his son’s graduation.
“I don’t think the May 17 date is a problem, so Mr. Trump can certainly attend that date, attend his son’s graduation,” Merchan said.
Trump had previously requested the day off from court to accommodate his son Barron’s high school graduation.
TRUMP ARRIVES AT COURT
Donald Trump’s motorcade arrived Tuesday morning at the courthouse in lower Manhattan just before 9 a.m., kicking off the second week of witness testimony in the former president’s hush money trial.
A crowd of around 60 Trump supporters had gathered across the street from the building, waving Trump and American flags on tall poles.
TRUMP LEAVES TRUMP TOWER FOR COURT
Donald Trump entered his motorcade outside Trump Tower in midtown, headed to the courthouse in lower Manhattan for the second week of trial testimony.
The former president on Tuesday will be in court for testimony from the third prosecution witness, Gary Farro, a banker who helped Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen open accounts.
Cohen used one to buy the silence of porn performer Stormy Daniels. She alleged a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, which he denies.
JUDGE MAY RULE THIS WEEK ON PROSECUTORS’ REQUEST TO FINE TRUMP
Judge Juan M. Merchan may decide this week on prosecutors’ request to fine Trump for what they say were violations of a gag order that bars him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to the case.
The judge also has set a hearing Thursday on another batch of alleged gag order violations.
In an order first made in March and later revised, Merchan barred Trump from making public statements about probable trial witnesses “concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding.”
Merchan’s order didn’t give specific examples of what types of statements about witnesses were banned. He noted the order was not intended to prevent the former president from responding to political attacks.
The gag order also barred Trump from making public statements of any type about jurors, court staff, lawyers in the case or relatives of prosecutors or of the judge.
PROSECUTORS AT TRUMP’S TRIAL ZERO IN ON THE DETAILS
Defense lawyers in Donald Trump’s hush money trial dug Friday into assertions of the former publisher of the National Enquirer and his efforts to protect Trump from negative stories during the 2016 election.
The first week of testimony was the scene-setter for jurors: Manhattan prosecutors portrayed what they say was an illegal scheme to influence the 2016 presidential campaign by burying negative stories. Now prosecutors are working on filling in the details of how they believe Trump and his allies pulled it off.
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker’s testimony last week provided jurors with a stunning inside look at the supermarket tabloid’s “catch-and-kill” practice of purchasing the rights to stories so they never see the light of day.
Trump’s longtime executive assistant, Rhona Graff, told jurors she recalled seeing Stormy Daniels in a reception area of Trump Tower, though the date of the visit wasn’t clear.