(Photo by Mandel Ngan for AFP)
Donald Trump was hit with a $5,000 fine Friday after a judge discovered a social media post disparaging a court clerk on a campaign website days after a gag order was issued.
Judge Arthur Engoron had threatened to hold Trump in contempt and even jail him after the post was found. Instead, he issued the fine.
In a written ruling, Engoron said he was “way beyond the ‘warning’ stage,” but decided to issue just a fine because of Trump’s attorney’s claim that the post was inadvertent, the Associated Press reported.
He had earlier said the failure to delete the post was a “blatant violation” of the gag order issued on Oct. 3.
