WATCH: Judge Merchan finds Trump in contempt, threatens him with jail
Judge Juan Merchan
(AP) -- The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money trial fined him $1,000 on Monday for violating his gag order once again and sternly warned the former president that additional violations could result in jail time.
The fine marks the second time since the trial began last month that Trump has been sanctioned for violating the gag order, which bars him from making incendiary comments about jurors, witnesses and other people closely connected to the case. He was fined $9,000 last week, $1,000 for each of nine violations.
“It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent. Therefore going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” Judge Juan M. Merchan said before jurors were brought into the courtroom. Trump’s statements, the judge added, “threaten to interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitute a direct attack on the rule of law. I cannot allow that to continue.”
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