Former President Donald Trump’s legal troubles continue to mount as his latest attempt to delay his criminal hush money trial in New York has been denied. The ruling came during the second week of courtroom testimony, where Trump sought a delay for various reasons, including the refusal of the presiding Judge Juan Merchan to recuse himself from the case.
Trump also claimed that he had not been permitted to invoke a presidential immunity defense and that Judge Merchan had restricted his ability to file motions in the proceedings. The appeal was denied by justices of the New York appeals court on Tuesday.
The denial came just hours after Judge Merchan ordered Trump to pay a fine of $9,000 for violating a gag order on nine separate occasions. Prosecutors argued that Trump broke the gag order by attacking key witnesses in the trial through posts on Truth Social and campaign messages.
The judge found Trump in contempt of court for violating the gag order and warned of potential “incarceratory punishment” if he continues to disobey the court’s orders. The judge also suggested that financial penalties may not be enough to deter Trump and that more severe sanctions, including jail time, could be necessary.
Despite the legal challenges, Trump managed to delete the posts in question before the deadline set by Judge Merchan and must pay the fine by Friday. The trial, which is the first criminal trial against a former or sitting president, is now in its third week with witnesses like tabloid mogul David Pecker testifying about the hush money case. Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to silence her allegations of an affair.