United States: US ex-President Mr. Donald Trump was fined $5,000 by New York Judge Mr. Arthur Engoron for breaking a gag order in his civil fraud trial.
In court, the judge stated that the ex-president didn’t remove an online post that mocked a court clerk.
The judge also warned Mr. Trump of possible jail time and ordered him to remove the “untrue and disparaging” post about the clerk from earlier this month.
Judge Mr. Engoron mentioned that the post was removed from social media but still remained on his website.
“Incendiary untruths can and have led to serious physical harm. I will now allow the defendant to explain why this should not end up with serious sanctions, or I could possibly imprison him,” Mr. Engoron said in court.
Mr. Donald Trump’s lawyer, Mr. Christopher Kise, apologized to his client and explained that it was an “unintentional” error. He mentioned that although the post was deleted from social media, it was mistakenly left on the campaign website by aides.
Later in the day, Mr. Engoron decided that Mr. Trump should pay a fine because the breach was unintentional, considering that it was a first-time offense.
“Make no mistake: future violations, whether intentional or unintentional, will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions, which may include, but are not limited to, steeper financial penalties, holding Donald Trump in contempt of court, and possibly imprisoning him,” Mr. Engoron remarked.
The civil trial, conducted without a jury, aims to calculate the damages for the fraud previously established by Judge Engoron. This fraud involved Mr. Trump exaggerating his personal net worth to obtain favorable loan deals.
New York Attorney General, Ms. Letitia James, who initiated the case, is pursuing $250 million in fines and significant constraints on Mr. Trump’s businesses.
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