US Former President Donald Trump, who is currently facung a criminal trial in the hush money payment case, was warned by Justice Juan Merchan that any further violations could land him in jail, after Trump violated a gag order. The former President was fined of $1,000 and was held in contempt of court for the 10th time on Monday by the judge, news agency Reuters reported.


The judge stated that the previous nine $1,000 fines he had imposed on Trump did not seem to be affecting the wealthy businessman from violating the order. The order bars the former president from speaking publicly about the jurors and witnesses involved in the case.


“I do not want to impose a jail sanction and have done everything I can to avoid doing so. But I will if necessary,” the judge said at the beginning of the 12th day of the trial, before the jury entered.


The trial, which stems from the hush money payment which was made to porn star Stormy Daniels in the final weels of the 2016 general elections in US, has imprisonmnet as an unprecedented step, Reuters reported.


Following Merchan's ruling, jurors heard testimony from Trump's former employees, aimed at bolstering prosecutors' case that Trump falsified his business records in order to cover up the hush money payment.


Trump, however, has pleaded not guilty and denies any sort of wrongdoing.

 

As he imposed the fine, the judge stated that he considered jail time “truly the last resort” since it would pose disruption in the trial, posing security challenges and complications in the 2024 presidential election,through which Trump seeks to wrest the White House from President Joe Biden.

 

However, Merchan said that Trump's “continued and willful” violations of the gag order were a “direct attack on the rule of law.”

 


The 10th fine was imposed by the judge on Monday in connection with an April 22 broadcast interview where in Trump said: "That jury was picked so fast - 95% Democrats. The area's mostly all Democrat."

 

Last week the former President was fined $9,000 for nine social media posts, which were found to be in violation of the gag order.

 

"He's taken away my constitutional right to speak," Trump said outside the courtroom, before being fined by the judge for the 10th time.

 




ALSO READ| US: Donald Trump Fined $9,000 For Violating Gag Order In Hush Money Case, Warned Of ‘Incarceratory Punishment’