Judge fines Donald Trump $5,000 after post maligning court staffer is found on campaign website
New York,(AP): Former President Donald Trump was fined USD 5,000 on Friday after a disparaging social media post about a key court staffer in his New York civil fraud case was allowed to linger on his campaign website after the judge ordered it deleted.
Judge Arthur Engoron avoided holding Trump in contempt, for now, but reserved the right to do so - and possibly even put him in jail - if he continued to violate a gag order barring parties in the case from personal attacks on court staff.
Engoron said in a written ruling that he is "way beyond the warning' stage," but decided on a nominal fine because Trump's lawyers said the website's retention of the post was inadvertent and was a "first time violation."
Earlier, an incensed Engoron said the failure to delete the post from the website was a "blatant violation" of his October 3 order, which required Trump to delete the offending message.
Trump lawyer Christopher Kise blamed the "very large machine" of Trump's presidential campaign for allowing his deleted social media post to remain on his website, calling it an unintentional oversight.
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, wasn't in court Friday. He'd returned to the trial Tuesday and Wednesday after attending the first three days in early October, but skipped the rest of the week.(AP)
RUP
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Four crew members aboard refueling aircraft were killed: US military
Dubai (AP): Four of the six crew members aboard a US military KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq have been found dead, the American military said.
The US military's Central Command made the announcement in a statement.
“Four of six crew members on board the aircraft have been confirmed deceased as rescue efforts continue,” it said. “The circumstances of the incident are under investigation. However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”
Four Confirmed Deceased in Loss of U.S. KC-135 Over Iraq
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 13, 2026
TAMPA, Fla. – At approximately 2 pm ET on March 12, a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft went down in western Iraq. Four of six crew members on board the aircraft have been confirmed deceased as rescue efforts continue.
The…
