Judge slaps Trump with $9K in fines — and warns 'jail may be a necessary punishment'

ALSO READ: Mystery swirls as far-right heavyweights scrubbed from school GOP hopeful founded

New York Judge Juan Merchan has ruled in the dispute over whether former President Donald Trump violated the gag order in the Manhattan hush money trial. He has determined that Trump violated the order in at least nine separate instances.

The decision means that the former president will be fined $9,000 and will be forced to remove the offending posts that violated the gag order from his Truth Social page.

What's more, as flagged by legal reporter Adam Klasfeld, Merchan warned Trump that he could be incarcerated if he continues to flout his gag order.

Merchan said that New York state law does not permit him to escalate fines against Trump, which led him to conclude that the court "must therefore consider whether in some instances, jail may be a necessary punishment" for future violations.

This comes after a contentious hearing last week, during which Merchan sharply rebuked Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche for his arguments in support of his client, saying that they were not credible.

The gag order imposed on Trump in the case, which centers on allegations he falsified business records to cover up hush payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels to suppress negative information about himself from voters in the 2016 election, is relatively permissive, allowing him to criticize Merchan, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and the charges against him generally. However, he is prohibited from disparaging likely witnesses, and the family of court officers, among other things.

ALSO READ: A criminologist explains why Trump’s Manhattan trial is the biggest threat to his freedom

At issue is the fact that the former president has continued to publicly attack Michael Cohen, his former attorney and fixer who arranged the payment to Daniels and is set to testify he did it on Trump's instruction. Most experts have argued that this is a violation of the order, as Cohen is one of the central witnesses in the case.

Trump and his defense counsel, for his part, have argued that he did not violate the gag order because he was simply re-upping criticism of Cohen posted by other figures, like Fox News' Jesse Watters, and not speaking in his own voice.

In the past, Trump was issued sanctions for violating gag orders in his civil trials, which resulted in thousands of dollars in fines. However, this was the first time he faced contempt of court allegations for a gag order in a criminal proceeding.

For customer support contact support@rawstory.com. Report typos and corrections to corrections@rawstory.com.

Kennedy Center's 'very unusual' tax returns omission flagged by experts

A former Kennedy Center official flagged a "very unusual" omission in a newly surfaced federal tax filing as President Donald Trump threatens it.

A Friday article by The Atlantic dug into the 990 form for the Kennedy Center that covered the fiscal year that began in October 2024 and ended last September, spanning the final months of the arts complex's previous leadership and roughly seven months after Trump seized control.

The 990 noted, however, that the institution's annual audit had not been completed by the time of filing. Experts pointed the gap out to The Atlantic.

An anonymous former official with knowledge of the center's governance and financial practices told The Atlantic that the lapse stood out. Such audits are normally released to the public by January or February, the official noted, adding that it was "very unusual" for it to still be missing.

At a glance, the filing points to a strong year. The center logged more than $516 million in total revenue, a jump of nearly $210 million, or about 68 percent, from the year before. Experts who reviewed the numbers, however, said the increase leaned largely on a single federal appropriation rather than ticket sales or donations.

Most of that money traces to $257 million in renovation funds that Trump urged Congress to bundle into his One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Without that appropriation, the center appears to have spent close to $47 million more than it collected, which The Atlantic noted is a steep swing from the roughly $40 million surplus it reported a year earlier under former president Deborah Rutter.

Other entries added to the concern. The document records a $48 million bad debt expense, a write-down of revenue the organization no longer expects to receive, while program revenue tied to ticket sales fell from nearly $105 million to about $89 million.

Analysts also warned that a 990 form mixes day-to-day operating money with capital funding, making the center's true financial footing hard to gauge from the headline totals. The filing was signed by chief financial officer Donna Arduin Kauranen, who resigned the same day Trump issued his most recent demand over the building.

THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING! ALL ADS REMOVED!

Kennedy Center shutdown covering up bigger mess triggered by Trump: lawyer

The push to shut down the Kennedy Center is a cover story meant to hide financial mismanagement tied to President Donald Trump, an attorney said.

In a Friday episode of Bulwark Takes, Nathaniel Zelinsky argued that Trump's demanded renaming and shutdown are a tell for a greater problem the president caused. Zelinsky is the lead counsel for Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) in her legal fight over the future of the Kennedy Center.

"We think that the real reason they need to shut down or want to shut down is to hide the financial mismanagement that is the direct result of his name going on the Kennedy Center," Zelinsky said. "So we think these two things, the renaming and the shutdown, are intimately linked."

The claim now has a deadline attached. This week, Judge Christopher "Casey" Cooper granted Beatty's team expedited discovery into the shutdown and any demolition plans, meaning the internal records behind the closure are set to become evidence.

Cooper also rejected Trump's latest workaround for putting his name on the building, which would have branded it as "endowed by Donald Trump" or "restored and renovated by Donald Trump." The judge, Zelinsky said, called it "linguistic gymnastics" that "doesn't get around his opinion and it doesn't get around the law."

The fight escalated after Trump was photographed aboard Air Force One studying a poster reading "Kennedy Center demolished," and after he told pool reporters, "If my name doesn't go up there, we might have to demolish this thing."

Cooper responded by ordering 30 days' notice before any demolition or change in the project's scope.

"It means that at least as a legal matter, Donald Trump can't do what he did to the East Wing," Zelinsky said. "He can't just show up, wreck the thing, and move on."

Zelinsky described Trump as "just grotesquely fixated on putting his name on a memorial to a slain president who gave the last full measure of devotion in the line of duty."

Mike Johnson slapped with 'brutal' community note gutting his brag

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) tried bragging about how productive Congress has been under GOP leadership, only for X's community notes to call him out.

In a Friday post, the account for the MeidasTouch political news network pointed out a "brutal community note" that appeared below one of Johnson's posts.

In Johnson's post, he boasted that "House Republicans passed over 70 bills this week alone," and touted that the number "adds to our total of over 900 bills passed through the House so far this Congress."

He continued, "We DELIVERED for Americans," and then went on the attack, writing, "By contrast, the Democrat agenda is very simple: grievance, politics, bigger government, higher taxes, open borders, and zero security."

However, the community note pointed out that "the 119th Congress was the least productive in history," referring to the current Congress.

"No Congress has enacted less legislation or laws," the note went on, and even called out the House Speaker himself. "Johnson has cancelled a total 63 scheduled voting days in the House, granting members an extra 2 months PTO, with no House votes scheduled until after the election."

Johnson called an early recess for the House earlier this week amid efforts by Democrats to address AI and a vote put forward by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

MeidasTouch wasn't the only account to laugh at the community note hanging off Johnson's post. Former tennis pro turned political commentator Martina Navratilova responded to MeidasTouch by posting, "Mike is #1-the worst majority leader ever."

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) also called it a "brutal community note." Florida Democratic congressional candidate Jennifer Jenkins pointed out the community note with an emoji covering its face. "Oof," reacted The Lincoln Project.

"The community note on this post is example #500 why the American people have zero trust in their own government," wrote Michael Flynn Jr., the son of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser.

Copyright © 2026 Raw Story Media, Inc. PO Box 21050, Washington, D.C. 20009 | Masthead | Privacy Policy | Manage Preferences | Debug Logs RS+
For corrections contact corrections@rawstory.com , for support contact support@rawstory.com .

{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}