A New York court fines Trump $9,000 for insulting the court and threatens him with imprisonment

A New York court fined former US President Donald Trump $9,000 for insulting the court, and threatened him with prison for violating an order prohibiting him from publicly attacking witnesses, jurors, and court employees.

The court statement stated that the judge responsible for Trump's case in a New York court ruled that Trump should pay a fine estimated at $9,000 on Tuesday for his numerous violations of the contempt of the court, and threatened him with imprisonment for violating an order issued by him prohibiting him from publicly attacking witnesses, jurors, court employees, and their relatives.

The statement issued by Judge Juan Merchan explained that Donald Trump was warned that “the court will not tolerate continued deliberate violations of its orders, and that, if necessary and appropriate, it will impose a prison sentence against him.”

The judge announced his decision to Donald Trump at the opening of the session on Tuesday morning, as the trial entered its third week, and he was fined $1,000 for each violation, totaling nine, which is the maximum allowed by law.

 Before the discussions began, the judge prohibited Trump from publicly attacking witnesses and jurors, which he always does on his social network, Truth Social, to avoid the risk of intimidation.

Since the first day of the trial on April 15, the prosecution has asked the judge to punish Trump, especially because of his severe defamation of Stormy Daniels and his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who became his arch enemy and a key witness against him before the court.

The Public Prosecution repeated this charge three days later, with seven new posts appearing on Truth Social and the Trump campaign website.

Trump once again attacked Michael Cohen, calling him a "total liar," but he also echoed the comments of Jesse Watters, the prominent Fox News anchor, stressing that without evidence, "they select secret progressive activists who lie to the judge to be part of the jury."

The day after Trump published this post, a woman withdrew from the jury, saying she feared she would be identified.

On April 15, Trump's trial began before a Manhattan court, which is scheduled to last four days a week and for six weeks or more  in the first of four criminal cases against him.

 Trump appeared in person at the court, where hearings began in the case of falsifying business records when processing payments to hide compromising information about him, including his alleged relationship with porn actress Stormy Daniels.

Trump faces 34 minor criminal charges related to falsifying business records related to his compensation to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, for paying $130,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels in October 2016 in exchange for her remaining silent about an alleged sexual encounter she had with Trump.