The latest | Judge fines Trump $1,000 for contempt and threatens prison if he violates gag order again

NEW YORK — The judge in Donald Trump’s secret trial sanctioned him Monday morning for violating his gag order for the second time.

Judge Juan M. Merchan fined the former president $1,000 and warned that going forward, additional violations could result in prison time. Prosecutors charged Trump with four violations, but the judge agreed to only one.

Witness testimony resumed after Merchan’s ruling, setting the stage for an even deeper dive into the events and people involved in what prosecutors said was a scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election by buying and burying negative stories about the then candidate.

The trial is in its 12th day.

Former Trump adviser Hope Hicks took the stand last week, recounting how Trump’s campaign was turned upside down after a video leaked in which he bragged about grabbing women without their permission.

Keith Davidson, who represented porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in secret negotiations, also took the stand. Davidson spent hours detailing his role in securing payments to Daniels and McDougal in exchange for their silence about previous sexual encounters they said they had with Trump.

Overall, prosecutors are laying the groundwork for crucial testimony from Michael Cohen, who paid Daniels $130,000 for his silence before he was arrested in the hush money scheme.

Trump is accused of falsifying internal business records to cover up secret payments – including the payment to Daniels – recording them instead as legal expenses.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

The case is the first criminal trial of a former US president and the first of four cases against Trump to reach a jury.

At the moment:

— Read the judge’s ruling on Trump’s latest gag order violation

– Silencing money, capturing and killing and more: terms to know in the Trump trial

– What Trump’s gag order means in his case for financial silence

– Key players: who’s who in Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial

— The case of silence is just one of Trump’s legal cases. I see the others here

Here are the latest:

People watching Donald Trump’s secret court trial were joined in the packed room Monday morning by a group of students from a Manhattan private school who said they had the morning free to attend.

“That’s him!” one of the high school students shouted early in the morning when Trump appeared on the video monitor. She was promptly shushed by one of her classmates.

Former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney took the stand Monday morning in the case of Donald Trump’s silence.

McConney worked for the company for more than three decades, retiring last year after being granted immunity in exchange for testifying for the prosecution in the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial in New York. During the trial, he admitted to breaking the law to help fellow executives avoid taxes on benefits paid by the company. The company was convicted and is appealing.

McConney, who walked away with $500,000 in compensation, testified tearfully last fall in the civil fraud trial of Trump, the company and its top executives. The former comptroller said he was exhausted by his involvement in a litany of Trump-related investigations and lawsuits.

“I just wanted to relax and stop being accused of misrepresenting assets of the company I loved working for,” he said at the time.

The judge in Donald Trump’s gag case concluded Monday that Donald Trump violated his gag order with comments he made on a program called “Just the News No Noise” on April 22, which is broadcast on Real America’s Voice.

On the program, the former president criticized the speed with which the jury was chosen and stated that it was full of Democrats. “The jury was chosen very quickly. 95 percent Democrats. The area is almost all Democratic,” he was quoted as saying.

In his ruling, Judge Juan M. Merchan said the comments “not only called into question the integrity and, therefore, the legitimacy of these proceedings, but again raised the specter of fear for the safety of the jurors and their loved ones.”

“The defendant is hereby advised that, if appropriate and warranted, future violations of his lawful orders will be punishable by imprisonment,” the judge wrote in the order.

The gag order prohibits Trump from commenting on jurors, key witnesses and certain other people connected to the criminal trial.

The judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s trial has fined him an additional $1,000 for again violating a gag order that prohibits him from making inflammatory comments about witnesses and jurors.

Judge Juan M. Merchan warned Monday that additional violations of the gag order could result in prison time.

“The last thing I want to do is put you in prison. You are the former president of the United States and possibly the next president as well,” Merchan said. “There are many reasons why incarceration is really a last resort for me. Taking this action would be disruptive to these proceedings.”

Trump sat in his chair, glowering at the judge as he delivered the ruling. As soon as the judge finished speaking, Trump shook his head twice and crossed his arms.

Prosecutors charged Trump with four violations, but the judge agreed to only one.

The judge had already fined Trump $9,000 for nine previous violations in posts on Truth Social and his website.

Before entering court Monday morning, Donald Trump spoke to reporters, airing familiar complaints about the fairness of the trial, the judge and the gag order that prevents him from commenting on witnesses and jurors.

He also noted the breaking news that Columbia University canceled its main commencement following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests.

“This shouldn’t happen,” he said.

Donald Trump arrived at the courthouse in Lower Manhattan as witness testimony in his silent trial enters its third week.

Witness testimony in Donald Trump’s criminal trial enters its third week on Monday and it remains to be seen who will be next to testify.

Over the past few weeks, jurors have heard from many different people.

Following a week-long jury selection process that began in mid-April, jurors first heard from former National Enquirer editor David Pecker, who, among other things, explained his pledge to be the “eyes and ears ” from Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Keith Davidson, a lawyer who represented porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in secret money negotiations, also took the stand. And jurors heard from others, such as a forensic analyst who examined Michael Cohen’s phones and a legal assistant from the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

Former White House press secretary and former Trump aide Hope Hicks on Friday painted a vivid picture of the chaos that unfolded after the “Access Hollywood” tape was leaked and the Wall Street Journal published a story about it. McDougal’s secret deal.

The defense questioned Hicks for about 20 minutes before court adjourned last Friday.

While a different set of people have testified in Donald Trump’s hush money case over the past two weeks, one key witness has been frequently heard but not yet seen: Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime lawyer and personal mediator.

Last week, jurors began hearing Cohen’s words in audio recordings as prosecutors worked to directly link Trump to payments to silence women with damaging allegations about him before the 2016 election.

Jurors heard, in private, one potentially crucial piece of evidence: a recording of Trump and Cohen, then his lawyer, discussing a plan to bribe a former Playboy model who claimed to have had an affair with Trump. The former president denies the affair.

They also heard from some witnesses recount their interactions with Cohen — some pleasant and others not so much.

It is unclear when the prosecution’s star witness will testify.

Donald Trump is expected to return to a Manhattan courtroom as his hush money trial enters its 12th day.

Last week’s proceedings saw a frenzy of witnesses testify, including former Trump adviser Hope Hicks and Keith Davidson, a lawyer who represented porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in secret money negotiations with Cohen and the National Enquirer.

The week also saw Trump fined $9,000 by Judge Juan M. Merchan for violating a gag order that prohibits the former president from speaking publicly about witnesses, jurors and other key people in the case. A second contempt hearing was held Thursday regarding four more possible violations, but Merchan did not immediately issue a ruling.