Judge holds Trump in contempt, fines him $9,000 and raises threat of jail

Donald Trump was held in contempt of court Tuesday and fined $9,000 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. Of the 10 posts, the one Merchan ruled was not a violation came on April 10, in which Trump referred to witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels as “sleaze bags.” Merchan said Trump’s contention that he was responding to previous posts by Cohen “is sufficient to give” him pause on whether the post was a violation. But Dylan Howard, the Enquirer’s then-editor in chief, told him the tabloid wasn’t keen on the idea because she “lacked documentary evidence of the interaction” with Trump, Davidson testified. “And the second was an unspoken understanding that there was an affiliation between David Pecker and Donald Trump and that AMI wouldn’t run this story, any story related to Karen, because it would hurt Donald Trump.” As for Daniels, the October 2016 leak of Trump’s 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape in which the presidential candidate bragged about grabbing women sexually without asking permission had “tremendous influence” on the marketability of her story. Asked to describe the tape, which can’t be shown in court, Davidson testified that it involved Trump and the show’s then-host Billy Bush being recorded on a “hot mic” and “some statements by both men that were troublesome.” A deal was reached with the tabloid for Daniels story, but the Enquirer backed out.