The judge in Donald Trump’s New York civil fraud trial has fined the former president $5,000 and threatened to throw him in jail for breaking a gag order he imposed in the first week of proceedings.
On 3 October, Judge Arthur Engoron banned Mr Trump from “posting, emailing or speaking publicly” about any members of his court staff, after the former president made a post on Truth Social attacking his law clerk and levelling baseless claims against her.
He was ordered to take the post down, however, while he deleted the post from Truth Social it remained on his website. It has now been deleted.
Meanwhile, Kenneth Chesebro, Mr Trump’s former lawyer and the alleged architect of the “fake electors” plot to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential, has struck a plea deal with prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia.
Jury selection began this morning for his trial, the first in the sprawling indictment against the former president and 18 co-defendants, which was scheduled for Monday. On Thursday, Sidney Powell, another of Mr Trump’s lawyers who worked to subvert the election, also pleaded guilty.
Both could now testify against the former president.