Trump fined another $1,000 for violating gag order, judge warns of potential jail time

Former President Donald Trump has been charged yet again with violating the gag order set in his criminal trial and was required to pay another $1,000. In the past two weeks, Trump has paid a total of $10,000 in gag order violation payments ordered by Judge Juan Merchan.

On Monday, Merchan said he did not want to put Trump behind bars for further violations. The prosecution has accused the presumptive presidential nominee of breaking the violation more than a dozen times.

The gag order prohibits him from publicly criticizing jurors, potential witnesses and the family members of Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the indictment case against Trump.

“The last thing I want to consider is jail,” Merchan said, per Fox News. “You are (the) former president and possibly the next president.”

The filing made on Monday threatens that incarceration will be in Trump’s future if he does not follow the guidelines of the gag order.

“The magnitude of that decision (however) is not lost on me,” he added. “Your continued willful violation of the court’s order … constitutes a direct attack … and will not be allowed to continue. … It is not allowed to continue.”

Trump Organization’s longtime controller testifies

Jeffrey McConney, who served as the Trump Organization’s controller for more than 20 years, was the only witness to take the stand Monday morning in Trump’s “hush money” trial.

McConney was questioned about his involvement in recurring payments made in 2017 to Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen. Cohen received monthly payments of $35,000 for nearly a year. Prosecutors are claiming that the payments were reimbursements to Cohen for paying off adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

In the criminal case, prosecutors are accusing Trump of 34 felony counts stemming from “hush money” payments to Daniels through Cohen leading up to the 2016 presidential election.

McConney is accused of handling the 11 fake invoices to Cohen as reimbursements for the $130,000 payment made to Daniels. Trump has been accused of using his own personal bank account to cover nine of the 11 payments to Cohen that were documented as “legal expenses.”

Cohen was “ultimately paid $420,000, which included a bonus and money to offset taxes, an arrangement outlined in a handwritten note by Mr. McConney shown to jurors,” per The New York Times.

Despite accusations, McConney testified that he doesn’t question his work for the Trump Organization.

“I feel great. I have no problems with the work I did on this,” he said, according to ABC News, adding that he got emotional after being asked why he left his career under Trump.

“I just couldn’t do it anymore,” McConney testified. “I just wanted to relax and stop being accused of misrepresenting assets for the company that I loved working for.”

He added, “I got to do a lot of things normally an accountant wouldn’t be able to do. I’m very proud of the work I did for 35 years.”

McConney also testified that Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer, was the one who told him to transfer the money to Cohen, not Trump.

“President Trump did not ask you to do any of the things you described?” Trump’s Attorney, Emil Bove, asked McConney during his cross-examination, per CNN.

“He did not,” McConney responded.

Last month, Weisselburg was sentenced to five months in jail for perjury during his testimony made in Trump’s New York civil fraud case.

In August, “he admitted guilt to 15 felony charges as part of an agreement with the prosecution. The terms of the deal required that Weisselberg provide truthful testimony at the Trump Organization’s trial, pay $2 million covering unpaid taxes, interest and fines, as well as relinquish his right to appeal,” the Deseret News previously reported.

Another Trump Organization employee testifies

Deborah Tarasoff, currently employed by the Trump Organization, told the court Monday that her employer is paying for her lawyers.

As accounts payable supervisor, Tarasoff saw the ins and outs of payments being made, according to CNN.

“She would get an approved invoice, enter it into the system, cut the check and get it signed. Tarasoff testified that Trump or his sons needed to approve invoices of more than $10,000 and Trump was the only person who authorized checks from his personal account, including during his presidency.”

Tarasoff also confirmed the $35,000 checks made out to Cohen were signed by Trump himself.