In New York City, former President Donald Trump is currently undergoing trial for felony charges linked to a 2016 hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. This trial represents the inaugural instance in history where a former U.S. president is being prosecuted on criminal allegations.
During the third week of proceedings in Trump’s New York hush money trial, the judge found the former president in contempt due to his critical public remarks. Justice Juan Merchan declared in a written decision, “The court determines that the prosecution has satisfactorily proven contempt. Mr. Trump is fined $1,000 for each of those two violations,” in reference to a specific instance of alleged gag order breaches.
Justice Juan Merchan fined Trump $9,000 for nine violations of a limited gag order. Merchan directed Trump to delete the posts from his Truth Social account and campaign website by 2:15 p.m. today. In his order, Merchan cautioned the defendant that the Court would not tolerate persistent, intentional breaches of its legal directives and indicated that if deemed necessary and suitable, the Court would enforce a punitive measure involving incarceration.
It is reported, Gary Farro, a banker who collaborated with former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, has resumed providing testimony. By the conclusion of Friday’s session, prosecutors had not publicly disclosed the identity of the subsequent witness following Farro. Notably, the previous week’s trial proceedings were primarily characterized by testimony from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, with brief testimony also given by former Trump aide Rhona Graff.
During his testimony on Friday, Farro stated that he assisted Cohen in facilitating the $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Trump is confronted with 34 charges of falsifying business records connected to the payment made to Daniels. He has entered a plea of not guilty and refuted any involvement in a relationship with her.
On Friday, Farro, who held an executive position at First Republic Bank in 2016, testified that Cohen contacted him in mid-October of that year to establish a bank account for a newly formed entity named Essential Consultants LLC.
According to Farro’s account to the jury, Cohen portrayed the company to the bank as a real estate consulting firm designed to receive compensation for investment consulting services he provided for real estate transactions. Prosecutors, however, depicted it as a shell corporation created to conceal the origin of the payment, which was executed shortly before Election Day.
In a packed courtroom, Trump’s son Eric joined him for the first time, alongside senior campaign adviser Susie Wiles.
Relevant articles:
– Live updates: Witness testimony to continue in Trump’s hush money trial , The Washington Post, 04/30/2024
– Trump trial live updates: Judge fines Trump $9,000 for violating limited gag order, ABC News, 04/30/2024
– Trump trial live updates: Judge threatens Trump with jail for further gag order violations, NBC News, 04/30/2024
– Hush money trial live updates: Judge finds Trump violated gag order, The Associated Press, 04/30/2024
– Live updates: Donald Trump’s hush money trial, CNN International, 04/30/2024