Tick tock, Contemnors!
This early morning Justice Juan Merchan held Donald Trump in contempt of court for 9 of 10 offenses of the March 26 gag order in his incorrect service records case. The court fined the previous president $1,000 a pop, and purchased him to remove the angering posts before 2:15. Still live as of this composing!
The gag order bars Trump from making declarations about jurors or “reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding.” Trump right away threw up out numerous posts on Truth Social and his project site assaulting Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, mainly by pricing quote and reposting attacks by conservative analysts. He (and his attorney Alina Habba) have actually continued to assault the jurors, too, however that’s an issue for another contempt hearing.
Last week, Trump’s legal representatives Todd Blanche and Emil Bove argued that it is merely “common sense” that RT’s are not recommendations, and likewise that Trump is entitled to react to political attacks by calling a Cohen a “serial perjurer.”
“The issue of ‘reposting’ appears to be a question of first impression,” Justice Merchan composed today. “Lacking legal authority to guide its decision, this Court must, as defense counsel stated at the hearing, rely on common sense.”
Observing that Trump himself has actually boasted that his posts on Truth Social “SPREAD all over the place, fast and furious. EVERYBODY SEEMS TO GET WHATEVER I HAVE, TO SAY, AND QUICKLY,” the court concluded that the offender reposted the short articles “to maximize viewership and to communicate his stamp of approval” and to “communicate to his audience that he endorses and adopts the posted statement as his own.”
Justice Merchan kept in mind that Judiciary Law § 751 provides him with simply 2 alternatives for penalty: a fine of $1,000 per infraction and/or imprisonment.
“It would be preferable if the Court could impose a fine more commensurate with the wealth of the contemnor,” he regreted, observing that $1,000 is functionally no deterrent for somebody with a ten-figure net worth, therefore the court may be required to take that 2nd alternative if Trump doesn’t knock it off currently.
“Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued
willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment,” the judge alerted.
Trump currently has a 2nd contempt hearing arranged for tomorrow. And currently, those posts are still up.
Liz Dye resides in Baltimore where she produces the Law and Chaos substack and podcast.
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