The sanction will not put Donald Trump in financial difficulty but is highly symbolic regarding the behavior of a former head of state. The former American president was sentenced this Tuesday to $9,000 fines for contempt of court, as part of the third week of his trial combining a sex scandal and an electoral campaign. The judge presiding over the proceedings also threatened him with “incarceration” for having violated his ban on attacking witnesses and jurors.
Donald Trump “is warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of his orders and that, if necessary and appropriate, it will impose a sentence of imprisonment,” reads the written decision of Judge Juan Merchan . The judge rendered his decision to Donald Trump at the opening of the hearing this Tuesday morning. He fined Donald Trump $1,000 per violation (nine in total), the maximum allowed by law.
Already prohibited from attacking witnesses and jurors
The former President of the United States is being prosecuted for 34 falsifications of accounting documents which allegedly served to conceal a payment to cover up a potential sex scandal in the home stretch of the 2016 presidential campaign. The $130,000 had been paid to the former porn star Stormy Daniels, to buy her silence about a sexual relationship she claimed to have had with him in 2006, when he was already married to his wife Melania. A relationship he denies.
Before the opening of the debates, the judge had prohibited Donald Trump from publicly attacking witnesses and jurors, which he regularly does on his social network Truth Social, to avoid the risk of intimidation.
Michael Cohen particularly targeted
From the first day of the trial, April 15, the prosecution had asked the judge to sanction Donald Trump, in particular for virulent invectives against Stormy Daniels and his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who had become his sworn enemy and a key witness. of the accusation. The prosecution returned to the charge three days later, with seven new publications on Truth Social or its campaign site.
The Republican candidate once again attacked Michael Cohen, described as a “serial liar”. But he also echoed the comments of Jesse Watters, a prominent host on the conservatives’ favorite channel Fox News, assuring without proof that “they are choosing undercover progressive activists who lie to the judge to be part of of the jury”. The day after this publication, a juror threw in the towel, saying she feared being recognized.