Donald Trump never learns. But then, when it comes to violating gag orders, no one seems to offer up the painful lesson he deserves. That could change Tuesday, and frankly, if so, that would be refreshing. Maybe even a bit of a shock to those of us used to his usual vile nonsense. However you look at it, Politico reports that not only are Manhattan prosecutors trying to convince a jury that Trump is guilty of 34 felonies in his hush-money trial, they also hope to persuade Judge Juan Merchan that the former president deserves a more immediate penalty: The prosecutors want him to be held in contempt.
As he should be. This has been a long time coming, and prosecutors are obviously frustrated. They say he has repeatedly violated a gag order that bans him from attacking witnesses, jurors, and others with connections to the case. Now, Justice Merchan has scheduled a Tuesday morning hearing, away from the presence of the jury, to consider the prosecutors’ arguments.
Should the judge agree that Trump has violated the gag order, he’s then going to have to deal with what to do about it. Merchan’s options range from a sternly worded warning, or perhaps a modest fine. He also has the option of consigning Trump to a short stint in jail.
Overall, it seems that the majority of former prosecutors believe that Merchan will be lenient. But they also said the situation is fluid, unpredictable, and of course, unprecedented.
“judge merchan is going to do everything possible to give him as much leeway as possible to cure the situation and be a better defendant,” noted Diana Florence, a former Manhattan prosecutor.
As the Daily Beast notes, Trump addressed reporters in the hallway outside the 15th-floor courtroom after opening statements were presented in his criminal trial, the first-ever trial for a former president, whereupon he most likely (you guessed it) violated the gag order while holding forth.
“i got indicted. i’m the leading candidate, i’m beating biden,” trump complained to reporters.
Then he seemed to decide now was as good as any to attack his former lawyer and “fixer,” Michael Cohen, who is expected to be called as a witness, calling him a crook who went to prison for “things that had nothing to do with me.”
Yeah right.
Cohen spent three years in federal prison for tax evasion and lying about the $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and another payment of $150,000 to Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal, which Cohen said he did to protect his then-boss.
Cohen was sentenced to three years in federal prison for tax evasion and lying about the Stormy Daniels payment, as well as a $150,000 payment to Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal, which he said he did to protect his then-boss.
Cohen, after Trump’s diatribe, took to X, writing “Hey Von ShitzInPantz… your attacks of me stink of desperation.”
“We are all hoping that you take the stand in your defense,” he added.
Hey Von ShitzInPantz…your attacks of me stink of desperation. We are all hoping that you take the stand in your defense. pic.twitter.com/FVsWbRnNkB
— Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) April 22, 2024
After wrapping his complaints about Cohen, Trump kvetched that his trial is keeping him off the campaign trail, adding “I should be in Georgia now. I should be in Florida now.”
“i should be a lot of different places right now campaigning, and i’m sitting here—and this will go on for a long time,” he complained. “it’s very unfair. the judge is conflicted. as you know, it’s very unfair, what’s going on.”
Of course, anything of this nature that happens to Trump is always unfair. Even if he wouldn’t be in this predicament if he hadn’t caused it to begin with.
And not content to leave things with Cohen, he also pushed the limits of his gag order by attacking former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who came out of retirement to work on the case. There’s a chance he will be called as a witness during the trial, and that led Trump to do more spleen-venting.
He claimed Pomerantz, a well-respected attorney, did “bad stuff,” (sounds like Trump’s typical crayon words) and was “caught lying,” and of course claiming the entire case is a “witch hunt.”
“i did nothing wrong,” trump said for the umpteenth time, declaring the trial was meant to “keep me off the campaign trail.”
“so far, it’s not working because my vote numbers are higher than they’ve said, because the public understands that it’s a witch hunt,” Trump claimed before walking off. “thank you very much.”
In past polls, Trump did appear to lead Biden, however, Biden seems to have caught up to him. An ABC News/FiveThirtyEight poll shows the president edging Trump with a razor-thin lead. But still a lead nonetheless.
All I can say for now is it’s going to be fun to see what sort of mood Trump is in after Judge Merchan decides Trump’s fate regarding his gag order violations. I hope the judge doesn’t throw a softball this time.
“the leading candidate”? Of what? The leading candidate to have his ass thrown in the pokey? Yeah, he sure as sh*t leads in that metric.
The judge has not made the violations of the gag order painful enough. She should line up his violations on chronological order, and double the fine for each successive one.
#1 – $10,000
#2 – $20,000
#3 – $40,000
#4 – $80,000
#5 – $160,000
#6 – $320,000
#7 – $640,000
#8 – $1,280,000
#9 – $2,560,000
#10 – $5,120,000
His ass needs to be in lockup. Money won’t matter. He will just send out begging emails to his basket of deplorables.
If Trump wasn’t in court, he’d probably be on the golf course at Mar-A-Lardo since his campaign is broke and can’t afford to hold rallies.
I don’t have a law degree, but it seems to me that we have a very clear sentence appropriate to the guilty verdict for Trump. He instituted this crime, a crime for which Cohen paid with a three year prison sentence, serious economic damage — his license to practice law revoked, no support or assistance from the “man” (who hid behind immunity to avoid being punished for orchestrating the crimes and actions Cohen was convicted for). Oh– and speaking of appropriate additional punishment, it seems appropriate that Cohen be repaid for some of the ongoing abuse, slander and lies which in another case, Trump has been told by two juries to pay +/-$100 million for the sexual abuse and continued defamation he put her through.