has been held in contempt of court and fined US$9000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his New York hush money case.Prosecutors had alleged 10 violations, but New York Judge Juan M Merchan found there were nine. Former President Donald Trump speaks with the media at the end of the day's proceedings in his trial at Manhattan criminal court on Friday, April 26, 2024, in New York.
Merchan is also weighing other alleged gag order violations by Trump and will hear arguments on Thursday. Through detailed testimony on email exchanges, business transactions and bank accounts, prosecutors are forming the foundation of their argument that Trump is guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with the hush money payments.
"Our country's going to hell and we sit here day after day after day, which is their plan, because they think they might be able to eke out an election," Trump declared last week in the courthouse hallway. Prosecutors showed jurors emails in which Cohen describes the opening of the Resolution Consultants account as an "important matter".