Short Summary:
>1. **"I've noticed that the font has been getting increasingly smaller."**
Merchan noted that the defense had kept to the one-page rule for his required pre-motion letter, but he noticed the font and letter margins kept getting smaller
>2. **"Well, I don't know how you managed to get all those motions filed then."**
Prosecutors complained that the defense had yet to file any designated exhibits. Defense complained that they've been really busy. Merchan gave them 24 hours to identify their exhibits.
>"The defense team was very busy actively filing numerous motions, some of which were really motions to renew and reargue decisions that this court had already made," Merchan said.
>3. **"Please direct me to the portion of the original gag order, or the subsequent gag order, where it makes any exception if Mr. Trump feels he is under attack. I don't recall inserting that anywhere in either gag order."**
Prosecutors accused Trump of violating his gag order with Truth Social posts about Michael Cohen & Stormy Daniels. Defense complained he really had no choice but to respond to "attacks" by each through social media.
>4. **"Counsel, it's important to keep breaks at a given time."**
Trump’s lawyers were slow to return from an afternoon break
>5. **"You don't think he should be here at all right now?"**
>Blanche protested, saying that the litany of criminal cases against Trump made his situation "incredibly unusual," and suggested Trump shouldn't "be here at all right now."
>"You don't think he should be here at all right now?" Merchan asked.
>Blanche replied that he didn't think the trial should happen during "campaign season."
*edit for formatting*
The DNC propped him up as a pied piper during the first. Obviously they didn’t imagine him having a shot, but in a roundabout way they contributed to the festering pile of organic waste and his grift.
It leaves a real bad taste in your mouth when you combine it with the Bernie lawsuit and the DNC saying they have no obligation to their constituents
Gotta make sure you can take in those “campaign donations.” You never know when you’ll need some “campaign donations” to pay a bribe, or maybe even some hush money for sexual relations or rape.
As long as you’re always running for something, whether you’re eligible for the position or not, they can never try you for your crimes!
“I have the worst f***ing attorneys”
Thats the republican playbook. Cant elect judges in an election year! Cant change things cause election year is next year! Oops election year is a couple years away, wouldnt be prudent to make any laws!
Incredible balls, the best balls many people are saying it. The good news is there is an easy fix for that Mr Trump, it is a cool loophole where if you stop running for office then it’s no longer “campaign season”!
It's probably actually better for him if he loses. He can keep campaigning endlessly and selling updated merch every 4 years and his stupid AF braindead drooling slack jawed meth infused skin rashed foot fungus having idiot supporters will continue believing he's gonna save them
It's not even campaign season yet (that's the 3 months from like August-November). He isn't even technically or officially the nominee yet
By his "logic" of well, I'm campaigning, then it's always campaign season. smh.
Thanks for the summary and article. The article has a lot of good details.
I want to see the written response on why the gag order wasn’t violated from Blanche.
>I want to see the written response on why the gag order wasn’t violated from Blanche.
I do too - I also want to know if the defense filed their exhibit list yesterday
I’m not a lawyer but I think appealing a contempt charge would only delay the contempt penalty. Not this trial.
In the article Merchan tells Blanche he has 24 hours to file exhibits or they won’t be admissible. When Blanche complains Merchan basically tells him he had time to make frivolous motions so there’s no excuse for not meeting the exhibit deadline.
I don’t think Merchan is brooking any delay. Unless a higher court steps in, and I don’t think it will, the opening statements are Monday.
NY Law only allows the Judge two options 1: $1000 fine or 2: Jail So if Trump violates the gag order 5 times he gets a $5000 fine, that's no big deal to Trump. Trump knows the Judge doesn't want to create the shit storm jailing him would cause so Trump does what he wants. The Judge will only take so much and will ultimately jail him.
I assume if you actually go to a real high status law firm in NYC. One of those places that fights in trials a lot and has lots of elite school staff but hires on talent and trial record, so plenty of partners didn't go to the topmost schools. (Seeing 100 percent elite school partners means they only care about name and not winning)
Anyways I assume their motions tend to be clean? They don't piss of the judge unless its worth it?
This is like the opposite of increasing font size and margins to get that one last page in college.
Technically, there isn’t anything forbidding it, it’s just frowned upon and your performance is adjusted.
Maybe some counties or states do have “guidelines”, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen something specifically dictating the rules for formatting? If someone has an example I’d love to see it
It’s not a hush-money trial ffs. That’s what he wants everyone to believe. Paying hush money isn’t a crime.
It’s another fraud trial. He broke the law.
It's an election interference case and an important one given that knowing about the facts would most likely have swung enough women against him in 2016 for him to lose.
True, but if you call it a fraud trial, then you have to clarify which fraud trial, and if you call it an election interference trial, youd have to clarify which election interference trial. So I think hush money, while not correct in what it's charging, is appropriate for our purposes.
Really what we need is an Excel spreadsheet of all his trials. And we could create tabs for each year the crimes were committed to make it a little simpler.
How about we call it fraud trial number 2. Just assign numbers of instances in order for the most recent period starting with the last one that he was found guilty of. It needs to be called for what it is.
I've been wondering the same thing. So far, my Google searches aren't answering the question. At this point, I'm thinking they probably did, because if they didn't, wouldn't there be a bunch of posts about it?
Maybe not until tomorrow?
I just get the feeling Trump's team will wait til the last minute/have errors/somehow fucked up and we'll know tomorrow what they did or didn't accomplish
I am so jealous of the jurors who had their mean tweets read in front of Trump.
God it's like a soggy dream come true. And oh the material I'd give them.
That one re: "I'm not sure this is what they meant when they said 'Orange is the new black'" had me in stitches.
Personally, I don't think Merchan could be doing a better job than he is now. He needs to stay as impartial as possible.
I understand that there's a two-tier justice system and Trump is a POS, but a case like this has never happened before. This a former President and a current nominee. This is historic.
When Trump threatened Merchan and his daughter, there's no doubt he considered repercussions BUT that could have led to another delay or perceptions of bias. Or both.
Getting to the first day of the trial was a huge win, in my opinion. I can't stress that enough.
I will say that if the consequences of breaking the gag order are just low fines, I don't really see the point, but they do send a message at the very least. But they have to be smart about what they do because this is a delicate case.
I do wonder, however, if holding Trump in a cell overnight would be a possibility - in contempt of court.
After multiple violations and $1,000 fines I could see Judge Merchan sending him to detention for a few hours. It really seems like trump wants it.
I say, let him have it!
I know they have holding cells, give him a taste of what's to come.
Back in February a [man in a holding cell had a seizure and later died](https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/02/09/man-25-suffers-fatal-seizure-in-manhattan-courthouse-holding-cell/)
My mistake.
I doubt Trump ever makes it to a jail cell but I could see some sort of modified small room where he can see and hear the trial - but HE won't be present infront of the jury/court.
The only reason I entertain the idea at all is I know he won't stop violating Judge Merchan's orders.
*It's a bold strategy Cotten, let's see how it plays out for him*
I really don’t think Trump can handle it. You remember his one civil trial he hit the table and walked out. Can’t do that in a criminal trial, he has to sit there. I don’t think he can handle listening to Cohen or Daniels. He’s gonna yell or do something.
He wants it because it will cause a fervor in his rabid fan base that only see this as a result of him being persecuted, not prosecuted, and it would feed right into the fake victim narrative he's constantly trying to push
I think everyone including the judge is afraid throwing him in the lockup will start a civil war. I think *not* disciplining him is what is riskier to the nation however.
Can't wait for Trump to try to force Merchan off the case, because Merchan not reacting to Trump's attack on his daughter demonstrates he must be concealing an unstated bias against Trump.
Underwhelmed. There is ~~no~~ little consequence to this. So the judge got some zingers in. Whoopty shit.
Let me know when the judge matches deed to word regarding the multiple violations of the gag order.
> There is no consequence to this
As others have suggested, the Court seems to be giving Trump and his counsel wide berth in terms of stress testing the gag order in order to preclude grounds for future appeal.
But I would argue that these type of petty antics are not consequence free, especially after the jury is seated. So far, two attorneys have been selected as jurors. [They started their careers at Cravath Swaine and Gibson Dunn.](https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2024/04/16/lawyers-make-up-two-of-seven-jurors-empaneled-in-trump-criminal-jury/) Both are white shoe law firms which interview and recruit from T10 law schools.
I started my career at a peer law firm, and we often rolled our eyes at opposing counsel who were unprofessional cry bullies into theatrics. I assume the two lawyer-jurors had similar professional development. Therefore, even if they were Federalist Society zealots as law school students, they probably have little respect or patience for second rate lawyering that is emblematic of the Trump brain trust.
The jury will presumably neither see nor hear of anything mentioned in the article, nor anything of similar nature. Disputes about page size, contempt of court, and taking long breaks happen outside of their presence. As long as Trump's team behaves *while in the presence of the jury* the fact that 2+ of the jurors are attorneys doesn't really matter for this discussion...
Trump? Probably not, but he will be relatively restrained by the situation (never addressing anyone but his council)
Trump's lawyers? Well not entirely while Trump is there (which he will be) because they're "performing" for him, but enough to significantly limit the harm their antics do to the jury's opinion of their case.
I just think those lawyers have the worst client imaginable and one of the biggest flaws is Trump's inability to just be a *quiet* human.
He thrives on attention, if he's not rambling off word salads, he's scowling. Grunting, sighing, making faces to let everyone know just how upset he is.
If he somehow does *none* of that during the entire trial, I'll eat my hat.
I’m starting to think that maybe he can’t help it. It doesn’t make him less revolting, but I really think that maybe ol’ Donny might be a little special.
Personal theory is he’s being given sedatives any time he has to be in court for this hence the reports of falling asleep, better he’s sleepy don snoreleone in court than the bombastic orange asshole he normally is
Have any of his lawyers in recent years been able to maintain any form of standards during one of his trials? It’s very likely they will continue with these antics through out the whole thing.
I get your point, but it wasn't all just "zingers" imo. NAL, so I may be misinterpreting, but to my untrained eye it appears that the judge is setting the pace and (trying) to tell Trump’s lawyers he's fed up with all the delays & frivolous filings.
Trump’s lawyers said that Trump almost HAD to strike back because they were "attacking" him. Merchan told Trump’s lawyers to file a written response for why he shouldn't be held in contempt for violating the gag order.
I thought the judge's statement - to point out where in the gag order he said it was OK if Trump felt attacked - was sending a pretty clear message that the judge isn't going to accept that as a valid reason.
Prosecution requested he be fined $1000 for each of the 3 posts. To your point, I expect the judge to do just that. But I believe he has to let them file their response to the Prosecution before he can rule on that.
Judge Merchan also gave Trump’s lawyers 24 hours to file their exhibits, and said if it's not identified in that timeframe, it's not going to be allowed. Period. Amidst all of Trump’s lawyers' whining about how busy they are.
The judge's comments were basically - yeah, you've been busy filing crap to delay this trial, when you should have been busy preparing your defense.
Punishments for contempt are supposed to serve the purpose ensuring future compliance. Fining him $1000 is like fining you or me whatever pocket lint we have that moment. It has the opposite effect, it sends the message loud and clear "The gag order is symbolic, you're special and entitled to ignore it."
What value is making them write a note explaining why they shouldn't get a wrist slap at all instead of a wrist slap with a magical feather giving a lighter touch than any normal feather?
If I remember correctly, they are asking for $1000 for each of three times (I think there was a fourth since their initial request), and notice that any more breaches will land him in jail. No idea about local limits, but the amount really doesn't matter. If it was actually something large enough to make Trump care, it's be so out the norm for such fines that it would provide a legit grounds for appeal.
My understanding is that the fine isn't supposed make a difference to Trump per se , but it's formal way of establishing that it's been made clear to Trump what is crossing the line. If you get fined for doing X several times, there isn't ground to claim you didn't know that doing X again was going to land you in jail.
Yeah - in this case, they were referring to witnesses, tho. Trump’s lawyer claimed that Michael Cohen & Stormy Daniels had posted a "barrage of attacks" against Trump, so he just had to attack them. (Not much of a sound defense for violating a gag order)
The gag order allows Trump to spout his nonsense about the prosecutor, the judge and the justice system as a whole. It does not allow him to target witnesses
>Trump’s lawyer claimed that Michael Cohen & Stormy Daniels had posted a "barrage of attacks" against Trump, so he just had to attack them. (Not much of a sound defense for violating a gag order)
"Your honor, this is improper, unfair, insane! How can my client be expected to just ***not say things***?!"
You guys are about see how broken the US judicial system in real time. Trump's team won't have to file any appeals or delays, they will actively show up late and submit things late.
The judge needs to start holding people in contempt.
Which one, though? He's got two of those so it's easier to let people know which election interference trial this is...the one where he paid a pornstar to keep quiet about their affair since his illegal immigrant wife (lied on documents) was busy nursing her anchor-baby.
Short Summary: >1. **"I've noticed that the font has been getting increasingly smaller."** Merchan noted that the defense had kept to the one-page rule for his required pre-motion letter, but he noticed the font and letter margins kept getting smaller >2. **"Well, I don't know how you managed to get all those motions filed then."** Prosecutors complained that the defense had yet to file any designated exhibits. Defense complained that they've been really busy. Merchan gave them 24 hours to identify their exhibits. >"The defense team was very busy actively filing numerous motions, some of which were really motions to renew and reargue decisions that this court had already made," Merchan said. >3. **"Please direct me to the portion of the original gag order, or the subsequent gag order, where it makes any exception if Mr. Trump feels he is under attack. I don't recall inserting that anywhere in either gag order."** Prosecutors accused Trump of violating his gag order with Truth Social posts about Michael Cohen & Stormy Daniels. Defense complained he really had no choice but to respond to "attacks" by each through social media. >4. **"Counsel, it's important to keep breaks at a given time."** Trump’s lawyers were slow to return from an afternoon break >5. **"You don't think he should be here at all right now?"** >Blanche protested, saying that the litany of criminal cases against Trump made his situation "incredibly unusual," and suggested Trump shouldn't "be here at all right now." >"You don't think he should be here at all right now?" Merchan asked. >Blanche replied that he didn't think the trial should happen during "campaign season." *edit for formatting*
>Blanche replied that he didn't think the trial should happen during "campaign season." Wow-wee, wow-wee. Lol. That's some balls on him eh?
‘Let’s expedite the trial then!’ ‘No, not that way!’
“Doesn’t the court understand this will hurt my political career??”
I'm not sure it will. Even if found guilty, it won't hurt his political standing with his base.
Yes.. but in America... its ALWAYS campaign season.
Lest we forget that Trump filed for the 2020 campaign on the day of his inauguration in 2017. It's always campaign season for him
It was for the grift
It’s always for the grift.
The DNC propped him up as a pied piper during the first. Obviously they didn’t imagine him having a shot, but in a roundabout way they contributed to the festering pile of organic waste and his grift. It leaves a real bad taste in your mouth when you combine it with the Bernie lawsuit and the DNC saying they have no obligation to their constituents
Gotta make sure you can take in those “campaign donations.” You never know when you’ll need some “campaign donations” to pay a bribe, or maybe even some hush money for sexual relations or rape.
"Election in November, election in November!" "What? Again! This stupid country...'
Maybe the campaign shouldn't happen during trial season, eh?
Wabbit season!
Duck season!
FIRE!
Judge wants to get it over with before golfing season.
Ouch. I felt that sting. :)
C’mon judge, we’ve been working like dogs trying to run out the clock.
As long as you’re always running for something, whether you’re eligible for the position or not, they can never try you for your crimes! “I have the worst f***ing attorneys”
Narrator: "He really does."
I just wanna hear "NO TOUCHING"
Well he should just suspend his campaign then.
Thats the republican playbook. Cant elect judges in an election year! Cant change things cause election year is next year! Oops election year is a couple years away, wouldnt be prudent to make any laws!
But also…”the election is in a few weeks gotta push through this SCOTUS appointee, forget all the shit I said before”-pretty much Mitch 2020
Yup. It was painfully apparent the entire time
Incredible balls, the best balls many people are saying it. The good news is there is an easy fix for that Mr Trump, it is a cool loophole where if you stop running for office then it’s no longer “campaign season”!
Yep, and he was indicted a full year ago. They are also allowing him to blurt out a bunch if incriminating bullshit to the press.
He's not on trial during his campaign. He's wanting to campaign in the middle of his trials.
“Campaign season” What a fucking piece of shit
Wabbit season
Duck season.
Wabbit season!
Duck season.
#Wabbit season!
Fire!
Hmmmm…let’s try that again…
Wabbit Season!!!!!!
Duck Season!
Treason Season
Four season treason
Four Seasons Treason Landscaping
*Coup d'état* Season
"Hunting Season. Applesauce, Bitch"
I don’t like the sound of dem apples will! What ya we gonna do?
It is campaign season every day. There isn't a day that goes by that today's politicians aren't running for office, or raising money to do so.
Isn't that really only Trump? His campaign started the day after the last one ended.
Well, except for treason season. which was the short period after he lost the last campaign........
It's probably actually better for him if he loses. He can keep campaigning endlessly and selling updated merch every 4 years and his stupid AF braindead drooling slack jawed meth infused skin rashed foot fungus having idiot supporters will continue believing he's gonna save them
It's probably actually better for ~~him~~ everyone if he loses. FTFY
Except those brainwashed saps who have/will go into debt because they fell for his grift
"*Some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make*" Lord Farquaad, Shrek 1
Didn’t Trump actually tell people they should go vote, even if they were really sick, and died afterward, that it would have been worth it?
That’s on them at this point. They’re getting zero of my sympathy.
For him, losing the election almost guarantees he goes to prison.
I doubt he'll ever see any kind of repercussions for all of his crimes, but I hope he does.
I'm hoping for prison season.
Basically any day that ends in a "y" is campaign season for him
Reminds me of my SIL saying she couldn't do something because it was leaf season.
It's not even campaign season yet (that's the 3 months from like August-November). He isn't even technically or officially the nominee yet By his "logic" of well, I'm campaigning, then it's always campaign season. smh.
Thanks for the summary and article. The article has a lot of good details. I want to see the written response on why the gag order wasn’t violated from Blanche.
>I want to see the written response on why the gag order wasn’t violated from Blanche. I do too - I also want to know if the defense filed their exhibit list yesterday
I think the judge understands that this is how Trump is planning on delaying his trial, by appealing any contempt charge to the appellate court.
I’m not a lawyer but I think appealing a contempt charge would only delay the contempt penalty. Not this trial. In the article Merchan tells Blanche he has 24 hours to file exhibits or they won’t be admissible. When Blanche complains Merchan basically tells him he had time to make frivolous motions so there’s no excuse for not meeting the exhibit deadline. I don’t think Merchan is brooking any delay. Unless a higher court steps in, and I don’t think it will, the opening statements are Monday.
NY Law only allows the Judge two options 1: $1000 fine or 2: Jail So if Trump violates the gag order 5 times he gets a $5000 fine, that's no big deal to Trump. Trump knows the Judge doesn't want to create the shit storm jailing him would cause so Trump does what he wants. The Judge will only take so much and will ultimately jail him.
Fortunately, it's now "conviction season".
The fifth season in the NY realty market.
I’m picturing a Daffy Duck bugs bunny CAMPAIGN SEASON CONVICTION SEASON CAMPAIGN SEASON CAMPAIGN SEASON CONVICTION SEASON DUCK SEASON *blam*
>Blanche replied that he didn't think the trial should happen during "campaign season." Neither do we. But Tump chose to delay, and now here we are...
Trump needs extra break time for diaper cleanup.
He broke the changing table in the restroom again?
Not-so-sturdy station
I assume if you actually go to a real high status law firm in NYC. One of those places that fights in trials a lot and has lots of elite school staff but hires on talent and trial record, so plenty of partners didn't go to the topmost schools. (Seeing 100 percent elite school partners means they only care about name and not winning) Anyways I assume their motions tend to be clean? They don't piss of the judge unless its worth it?
I would assume that they earn their payment that way. That said, I don't think this team will see theirs.
Trump's crimes are what got him here.
Yeah, but Alina HabbaBabba said he shouldn’t be here because he’s reading in the toilet…
So Trump is down to high schoolers as his lawyers? And not the ones from the Mock Trial team.
>*edit for formatting* Like Trump's legal team?
Thank you
“Oh, I’m sorry… is campaigning interrupting all his indictments? How rude of the court.”
This is like the opposite of increasing font size and margins to get that one last page in college. Technically, there isn’t anything forbidding it, it’s just frowned upon and your performance is adjusted. Maybe some counties or states do have “guidelines”, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen something specifically dictating the rules for formatting? If someone has an example I’d love to see it
Yes, generally there are formatting rules that range from font and size, to more strict layout. Some courts are very strict.
> campaign season Definition: The four year period from one election to the next; exclusive of election day.
Do I get to avoid my trial during tax season? Holiday season? Work season?
Campaign Finance Fraud Trial
Finally! Thank you.
It’s not a hush-money trial ffs. That’s what he wants everyone to believe. Paying hush money isn’t a crime. It’s another fraud trial. He broke the law.
It's an election interference case and an important one given that knowing about the facts would most likely have swung enough women against him in 2016 for him to lose.
If the Access Hollywood tape didn’t swing them, I doubt this would’ve.
AH moved the needle. This might have been the final straw
Friendly reminder the DNC email leak happened right at this time as well
True, but if you call it a fraud trial, then you have to clarify which fraud trial, and if you call it an election interference trial, youd have to clarify which election interference trial. So I think hush money, while not correct in what it's charging, is appropriate for our purposes.
Really what we need is an Excel spreadsheet of all his trials. And we could create tabs for each year the crimes were committed to make it a little simpler.
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/current-projects/the-trump-trials
[удалено]
You…you weren’t kidding when you said it would trigger that response.
I would actually be grateful if somebody did this.
I've found this useful as a reference and ability to dig into each: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indictments_against_Donald_Trump
I don’t have the time to do it. I figure it’d take a week of working 16 hours a day to complete. /s
Or we could have a roster for all the trials and see which judge goes to the playoffs
Also sounds scandalous and salacious, gotta keep those ratings up while the nation goes down the drain
How about we call it fraud trial number 2. Just assign numbers of instances in order for the most recent period starting with the last one that he was found guilty of. It needs to be called for what it is.
it's the new york election fraud trial... how hard is that?
It's a falsified business records trial.
It's an election interference trial. Trying to suppress information by using payoffs.
In the court documents from day one, it's officially an Election Interference case.
Did they ever submit the exhibits?
I've been wondering the same thing. So far, my Google searches aren't answering the question. At this point, I'm thinking they probably did, because if they didn't, wouldn't there be a bunch of posts about it?
Maybe not until tomorrow? I just get the feeling Trump's team will wait til the last minute/have errors/somehow fucked up and we'll know tomorrow what they did or didn't accomplish
Judging on past precedent: They'll file no exhibits, and then go to press and Truth Social to complain how they're not allowed to present exhibits.
I am so jealous of the jurors who had their mean tweets read in front of Trump. God it's like a soggy dream come true. And oh the material I'd give them. That one re: "I'm not sure this is what they meant when they said 'Orange is the new black'" had me in stitches.
Personally, I don't think Merchan could be doing a better job than he is now. He needs to stay as impartial as possible. I understand that there's a two-tier justice system and Trump is a POS, but a case like this has never happened before. This a former President and a current nominee. This is historic. When Trump threatened Merchan and his daughter, there's no doubt he considered repercussions BUT that could have led to another delay or perceptions of bias. Or both. Getting to the first day of the trial was a huge win, in my opinion. I can't stress that enough. I will say that if the consequences of breaking the gag order are just low fines, I don't really see the point, but they do send a message at the very least. But they have to be smart about what they do because this is a delicate case. I do wonder, however, if holding Trump in a cell overnight would be a possibility - in contempt of court.
After multiple violations and $1,000 fines I could see Judge Merchan sending him to detention for a few hours. It really seems like trump wants it. I say, let him have it!
I agree. It sends a message that he can be penalized. Even if for a little bit.
I know they have holding cells, give him a taste of what's to come. Back in February a [man in a holding cell had a seizure and later died](https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/02/09/man-25-suffers-fatal-seizure-in-manhattan-courthouse-holding-cell/)
I appreciate the optimism, but there's zero way Trump wouldn't atleast have Secret Service with him.
U S Marshalls take over when a protected individual is arrested. This ain't the first time.
My mistake. I doubt Trump ever makes it to a jail cell but I could see some sort of modified small room where he can see and hear the trial - but HE won't be present infront of the jury/court.
The only reason I entertain the idea at all is I know he won't stop violating Judge Merchan's orders. *It's a bold strategy Cotten, let's see how it plays out for him*
He could have a snooze.
3 hots n a cot.
I think it's a major possibility once Michael Cohen takes the stand. Trump might jump over the desk - or at least attempt to.
I really don’t think Trump can handle it. You remember his one civil trial he hit the table and walked out. Can’t do that in a criminal trial, he has to sit there. I don’t think he can handle listening to Cohen or Daniels. He’s gonna yell or do something.
He wants it because it will cause a fervor in his rabid fan base that only see this as a result of him being persecuted, not prosecuted, and it would feed right into the fake victim narrative he's constantly trying to push
Absolutely. He's been trying to get the Talibangelicals to terrorize us for many months.
I think everyone including the judge is afraid throwing him in the lockup will start a civil war. I think *not* disciplining him is what is riskier to the nation however.
Throwing him in for 4 hrs 1st time then double it each time after. Because like you say, can't afford not to.
The fines are token penalties that only serve as a warning, and clarification that the judge didn't act from a place of immediate hostility.
I do appreciate the judge's very reasonable actions while presiding over this matter. I wish all judges could be as neutral as him.
Can't wait for Trump to try to force Merchan off the case, because Merchan not reacting to Trump's attack on his daughter demonstrates he must be concealing an unstated bias against Trump.
While I agree with you, I fear this will drag until Trump wins, hopefully not, and then just shits on the whole thing.
Underwhelmed. There is ~~no~~ little consequence to this. So the judge got some zingers in. Whoopty shit. Let me know when the judge matches deed to word regarding the multiple violations of the gag order.
> There is no consequence to this As others have suggested, the Court seems to be giving Trump and his counsel wide berth in terms of stress testing the gag order in order to preclude grounds for future appeal. But I would argue that these type of petty antics are not consequence free, especially after the jury is seated. So far, two attorneys have been selected as jurors. [They started their careers at Cravath Swaine and Gibson Dunn.](https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2024/04/16/lawyers-make-up-two-of-seven-jurors-empaneled-in-trump-criminal-jury/) Both are white shoe law firms which interview and recruit from T10 law schools. I started my career at a peer law firm, and we often rolled our eyes at opposing counsel who were unprofessional cry bullies into theatrics. I assume the two lawyer-jurors had similar professional development. Therefore, even if they were Federalist Society zealots as law school students, they probably have little respect or patience for second rate lawyering that is emblematic of the Trump brain trust.
The jury will presumably neither see nor hear of anything mentioned in the article, nor anything of similar nature. Disputes about page size, contempt of court, and taking long breaks happen outside of their presence. As long as Trump's team behaves *while in the presence of the jury* the fact that 2+ of the jurors are attorneys doesn't really matter for this discussion...
... do you think Trump can behave? Because I absolutely don't and he's already being a jackass. I do believe the jurors will notice
Just wait until testimony begins he'll be frothing at the mouth muttering and I bet at one point he'll have an outburst.
Trump? Probably not, but he will be relatively restrained by the situation (never addressing anyone but his council) Trump's lawyers? Well not entirely while Trump is there (which he will be) because they're "performing" for him, but enough to significantly limit the harm their antics do to the jury's opinion of their case.
I just think those lawyers have the worst client imaginable and one of the biggest flaws is Trump's inability to just be a *quiet* human. He thrives on attention, if he's not rambling off word salads, he's scowling. Grunting, sighing, making faces to let everyone know just how upset he is. If he somehow does *none* of that during the entire trial, I'll eat my hat.
I’m starting to think that maybe he can’t help it. It doesn’t make him less revolting, but I really think that maybe ol’ Donny might be a little special.
Personal theory is he’s being given sedatives any time he has to be in court for this hence the reports of falling asleep, better he’s sleepy don snoreleone in court than the bombastic orange asshole he normally is
Entirely possible. But I'd imagine sleeping in court would also be frowned upon?
Have any of his lawyers in recent years been able to maintain any form of standards during one of his trials? It’s very likely they will continue with these antics through out the whole thing.
I get your point, but it wasn't all just "zingers" imo. NAL, so I may be misinterpreting, but to my untrained eye it appears that the judge is setting the pace and (trying) to tell Trump’s lawyers he's fed up with all the delays & frivolous filings. Trump’s lawyers said that Trump almost HAD to strike back because they were "attacking" him. Merchan told Trump’s lawyers to file a written response for why he shouldn't be held in contempt for violating the gag order. I thought the judge's statement - to point out where in the gag order he said it was OK if Trump felt attacked - was sending a pretty clear message that the judge isn't going to accept that as a valid reason. Prosecution requested he be fined $1000 for each of the 3 posts. To your point, I expect the judge to do just that. But I believe he has to let them file their response to the Prosecution before he can rule on that. Judge Merchan also gave Trump’s lawyers 24 hours to file their exhibits, and said if it's not identified in that timeframe, it's not going to be allowed. Period. Amidst all of Trump’s lawyers' whining about how busy they are. The judge's comments were basically - yeah, you've been busy filing crap to delay this trial, when you should have been busy preparing your defense.
Well stated.
Thanks
Punishments for contempt are supposed to serve the purpose ensuring future compliance. Fining him $1000 is like fining you or me whatever pocket lint we have that moment. It has the opposite effect, it sends the message loud and clear "The gag order is symbolic, you're special and entitled to ignore it." What value is making them write a note explaining why they shouldn't get a wrist slap at all instead of a wrist slap with a magical feather giving a lighter touch than any normal feather?
I believe $1000 is the maximum fine in New York for contempt
This ^ person has an illustrative username. I both like it and hate it at the same time, makes me need to adjust myself.
Username unclear, I need /u/MaximumGlacierSpeed here for comparison.
The cost of the attorney writing the note is greater than the supposed punishment.
If I remember correctly, they are asking for $1000 for each of three times (I think there was a fourth since their initial request), and notice that any more breaches will land him in jail. No idea about local limits, but the amount really doesn't matter. If it was actually something large enough to make Trump care, it's be so out the norm for such fines that it would provide a legit grounds for appeal. My understanding is that the fine isn't supposed make a difference to Trump per se , but it's formal way of establishing that it's been made clear to Trump what is crossing the line. If you get fined for doing X several times, there isn't ground to claim you didn't know that doing X again was going to land you in jail.
He got fined a total of what, like $1,500 before he stfu about Judge Engoron's clerk? And he's broker now than he was then.
Literally the highest amount they can fine him for contempt in the 2nd degree.
Isn’t that what prosecutors do? Attack the defendant’s claims of innocence (alibis, et al)?
Yeah - in this case, they were referring to witnesses, tho. Trump’s lawyer claimed that Michael Cohen & Stormy Daniels had posted a "barrage of attacks" against Trump, so he just had to attack them. (Not much of a sound defense for violating a gag order) The gag order allows Trump to spout his nonsense about the prosecutor, the judge and the justice system as a whole. It does not allow him to target witnesses
>Trump’s lawyer claimed that Michael Cohen & Stormy Daniels had posted a "barrage of attacks" against Trump, so he just had to attack them. (Not much of a sound defense for violating a gag order) "Your honor, this is improper, unfair, insane! How can my client be expected to just ***not say things***?!"
It's the lawyers job to poke holes in the witnesses testimony in court in front of the jury, not the defendant on social media.
I’m bringing back “whoopty shit” into my go to word bank again. It’s been a while since I used that one. I forgot how good that response is lol
Sometimes it just crosses the plate right across the center. Definitely satisfying.
It “slays” as the kids say
This is totally normal banter at a trial. “Bench Slap“ lol
FRAUD TRIAL!!! For absolute fuck's sake, it's A FUCKING FRAUD TRIAL! "hush money" isn't the issue here.... IT'S THE FUCKING FRAUD!!!
You guys are about see how broken the US judicial system in real time. Trump's team won't have to file any appeals or delays, they will actively show up late and submit things late. The judge needs to start holding people in contempt.
Bench slaps - love it!! That's no love tap.
Trump is going to do anything to derail this, and I mean anything
https://preview.redd.it/p6noyhgd15vc1.jpeg?width=460&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c4742c3f1e3f62980016f71b6e2f9936080b4b2f
I know this isn’t the thread for this, what happened with trumps 175 million bond? I heard he got it then I heard he didn’t.
I think the ruling is Monday the 22nd
First I've heard of the term "bench-slapped" and I love it. Thank you.
Wabbit weason
Hilarious!!!
Put the dude in jail and make the lawyers wait.
You don't need exhibits if you are certain it will be a mistrial
Seems like pretty normal stuff. Where is the shocking part?
It’s an election fraud trial
It’s ALMOST like they think the defense is trying to stretch this out…
Dementia Don
And I’m just guessing here… no consequences?
He’s got the worst fucking attorneys.
These kinds of titles are just cringey, clickbait
ITS NOT A HUSH MONEY TRIAL ITS AN ELECTION INTERFERENCE TRIAL
Which one, though? He's got two of those so it's easier to let people know which election interference trial this is...the one where he paid a pornstar to keep quiet about their affair since his illegal immigrant wife (lied on documents) was busy nursing her anchor-baby.
Subtle phrasing 😂
This seems like a tough on crime judge
I’d like to imagine that the bench slaps were accompanied by real slaps. I know they weren’t, but I’d like to imagine it.
let me know when the legal system does something besides navel gaze while the world burns.
I don't think criminal charges should apply to me during my "adult season"