Just days after former President Donald Trump was fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order in his New York criminal trial, prosecutors are again asking to slap Trump with fines for four more alleged violations.
Prosecutors aren’t seeking to punish Trump for violations by putting him behind bars — yet.
“NEW: Manhattan DA prosecutor Chris Conroy asks Judge Merchan to impose on TRUMP the max $1,000 for 4 more alleged violations of gag order,” Guardian reporter Hugo Lowell posted to X. “Conroy: “‘To minimize disruptions to this proceeding, we are not yet seeking jail.’”
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged effort to keep salacious — and, he says, bogus — stories about his sex life from emerging during his 2016 campaign. On Monday, Trump called the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg a “scam” and “witch hunt.”
The charges center on $130,000 in payments that Trump’s company made to his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen. He paid that sum on Trump’s behalf to keep porn actor Stormy Daniels from going public with her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied the sexual encounter ever happened.
Prosecutors say the payments to Cohen were falsely logged as legal fees. Prosecutors have described it as part of a scheme to bury damaging stories Trump feared could help his opponent in the 2016 race, particularly as Trump’s reputation was suffering at the time from comments he had made about women.
Trump has acknowledged reimbursing Cohen for the payment and that it was designed to stop Daniels from going public about the alleged encounter. But Trump has previously said it had nothing to do with the campaign.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.