May 2 (UPI) — The judge in Donald Trump‘s hush-money trial will weigh additional allegations that the president has violated a gag order in the case in a hearing Thursday.
During the hearing Judge Juan Merchan will focus on statements Trump made to reporters in the courthouse hallway referring to his former lawyer Michael Cohen, a witness in the case. There are four new instances of alleged gag law violation including two comments about Cohen, one about the jury and one about witness David Pecker.
Merchan has ruled Trump had already violated the order nine times and has imposed the maximum fine of $1,000 per violation.
The gag order prevents Trump from statements that attack jurors, witnesses, counsel in the case other than the District Attorney, court staff, District Attorney staff, and family members of any counsel or staff member.
The order is designed to protect those named from statements made to interfere with work in the case. The aim is to protect the integrity of the criminal proceeding and to shield trial participants from threats often made in the wake of Trump’s public attacks.
Following the gag order hearing, testimony will continue in the trial with Keith Davidson, a lawyer who negotiated hush money deals to pay Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels to keep their stories from going public and hurting Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump isn’t on trial for just paying hush money to Daniels and McDougal. He’s on trial for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up the payments and the affair with Daniels to protect his 2016 election campaign.
New York law makes it a felony to falsify business records to cover up another crime, like campaign finance or tax law.
Davidson testified Tuesday just ahead of the 2016 election he was hustling to get then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen to wire the hush money to Daniels in return for her silence in the last days of the campaign.
Davidson testified that he thought Cohen was trying to “kick the can down the road until after the election.”
Trump denies breaking the law.
Prosecutors allege the money paid to Daniels was disguised as payments to Michael Cohen for legal services, which constitutes falsification of business records under New York law.
Cohen pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme and served time. He also became a cooperating witness against Trump.
Since Cohen decided to cooperate with prosecutors to testify against Trump, Trump has publicly attacked Cohen as a liar. Cohen was convicted of lying to Congress.
But in a video clip played in court Tuesday Trump is shown saying “Michael Cohen is a very talented lawyer. He’s a good lawyer in my firm.” Dr. Robert Browning, executive director of C-Span archives, verified that the video showing Trump saying that was authentic.
