Judge Fines Trump Over Com­ments On Hush Mon­ey Case, Issues Threat Of Future ‘Incar­cer­a­tion’

For­mer Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump was fined $1,000 on Mon­day by the judge over­see­ing his New York crim­i­nal tri­al who said Trump had made com­ments on the case that vio­lat­ed the court’s gag order. 
Judge Juan Mer­chan, who announced the fine, said he might have to order Trump to be impris­oned if the gag order was vio­lat­ed again. Last week, Trump was fined $9,000 over social media posts that Mer­chan said vio­lat­ed the direc­tive.
“It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serv­ing as a deter­rent. There­fore going for­ward, this court will have to con­sid­er a jail sanc­tion,” Mer­chan wrote in a court order. “Defen­dant is here­by put on notice that if appro­pri­ate and war­rant­ed, future vio­la­tions of i …