weatheriscool wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 3:07 pm
Trump found in contempt for violating gag order in hush money
The judge in Trump’s N.Y. hush money trial Tuesday found the former president in contempt for his critical public statements as proceedings entered their third week.
“The court finds the people have met their burden of proof and have demonstrated contempt. Mr. Trump is fined $1,000 on each of those two,” Justice Juan Merchan said in his written decision, referring to one set of alleged gag order violations.
(Mother Jones) Merchan, in his ruling, acknowledged that Tuesday’s contempt fine might not be large enough to deter Trump from future violations, but he noted that it was the maximum amount allowed by law.
“While $1,000 may suffice in most instances to protect the dignity of the judicial system, to compel respect for its mandates and to punish the offender for disobeying a court order, it unfortunately will not achieve the desired result in those instances where the contemnor can easily afford such a fine,” Merchan wrote, adding that if it was up to him, he could image a fine of as much as $150,000 being more appropriate.
But, Merchan wrote, since he can’t level that kind of fine, he may have to contemplate something more serious that money.
“Because this Court is not cloaked with such discretion, it must therefore consider whether in some instances, jail may be a necessary punishment,” Merchan wrote.
Merchan will hold a hearing on Thursday to consider three additional possible violations of the gag order. To fully abide by Merchan’s order today, Trump must delete seven posts from Truth Social and two posts from his campaign website by 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday. He must also pay the $9,000 fine by Friday.
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Trump won't rule out election violence if he loses to Biden in November: 'It depends'
Source: Business Insider
Apr 30, 2024, 11:18 AM EDT
Former President Donald Trump said in a new interview that he's not ruling out the possibility of election-related violence if he loses to President Joe Biden in November.
Time released a lengthy interview with the former president on Tuesday conducted mostly on April 12 at his Mar-a-Lago Club. The conversation focused on his ambitions if he won a second term, such as mass deportations, getting rid of "bad people" in government, and how he might fire his attorney general if the chief law-enforcement officer refused to prosecute someone at his command.
When first pressed about the prospect of "political violence" over the upcoming presidential election, Trump said he didn't think it would play out. "I think we're going to have a big victory," he said. "And I think there will be no violence."
Two weeks later, Trump spoke with the Time reporter for a follow-up, and the reporter asked specifically if violence might erupt if he didn't defeat Biden. "I think we're going to win," he said. "And if we don't win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election."
Trump faces prospect of additional sanctions in hush money trial as key witness resumes testimony
Source: ABC News/AP
May 2, 2024, 12:03 AM
NEW YORK -- NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump faces the prospect of additional sanctions in his hush money trial as he returns to court Thursday for another contempt hearing followed by testimony from a lawyer who represented two women who have said they had sexual encounters with the former president.
The testimony from attorney Keith Davidson is seen as a vital building block for the prosecution's case that Trump and his allies schemed to bury unflattering stories in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. He is one of multiple key players expected to be called to the stand in advance of prosecutors' star witness, Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and personal fixer.
Prosecutors are seeking $1,000 fines for each of four comments by Trump that they say violated a judge's gag order barring him from attacking witnesses, jurors and others closely connected to the case. Such a penalty would be on top of a $9,000 fine that Judge Juan M. Merchan imposed on Tuesday related to nine separate gag order violations that he found.
It was not immediately clear when Merchan might rule on the request for fresh sanctions, but the prospect of further punishment underscores the challenges Trump the presidential candidate is facing in adjusting to the role of criminal defendant subject to rigid courtroom protocol that he does not control. It also remains to be seen whether any rebuke from the court will lead Trump to adjust his behavior given the campaign trail benefit he believes he derives from painting the case as politically motivated.
Mar-a-Lago judge sets new hearing over 'grand jury matters' and materials in ongoing sealing and redaction battles
Source: Law & Crime
May 1st, 2024, 6:15 pm
The judge overseeing the Mar-a-Lago documents case has scheduled a hearing and status conference over several issues related to recent, sealed government filings as well as two long-sealed defense filings.
In a paperless order released late Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon set aside 90 minutes at 2 p.m. on May 8, exactly one week from today, “to discuss grand jury matters.”
“To the extent any non-parties to this proceeding have not yet had an opportunity to appear and be heard on the disclosure petition now transferred to this Court, the parties shall come prepared to discuss any additional procedures required,” the order reads.
Notably, the defense is not required to take part in the hearing.
This podcast (Build for Tomorrow "When exactly were the Good Old Days?") explains how nostalgia has been fooling us for thousands of years and how it connects to Donald Trump popularity and winning U.S.A.'s elections in 2016:
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Stormy Daniels is expected to appear at Trump's hush money trial on Tuesday
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP
Updated 8 minutes ago
NEW YORK (AP) — An attorney for Stormy Daniels says the porn actor is expected to appear as a witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial on Tuesday.
Clark Brewster tells The Associated Press that Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is “likely” to be called as a witness in the trial on Tuesday.
Trump said earlier Tuesday that he was “recently told” who the witness would be on Tuesday and complained he should’ve been given more notice.
In the final weeks of Trump's 2016 Republican presidential campaign, his then-lawyer and personal fixer, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about what she says was an awkward and unexpected sexual encounter with Trump at a celebrity golf outing in Lake Tahoe in July 2006. Trump denies having sex with Daniels.
Judge denies Trump request to narrow gag order to respond to Stormy Daniels
Source: The Hill
05/09/24 4:39 PM ET
Former President Trump’s hush money judge rejected the former president’s request to narrow his gag order so he can speak publicly about porn actor Stormy Daniels now that she has completed her testimony in Trump’s ongoing criminal trial.
Trump’s gag order limits his attacks against witnesses, among others, forcing the former president to stop pummeling some of his frequent targets on social media or risk jail time.
On Thursday afternoon, hours after Daniels was excused, Trump attorney Todd Blanche argued that the witness had changed her version of events, referencing the defense’s lines of attack during cross examination. “He needs an opportunity to respond to the American people, and the reason for the gag order are over. She is no longer a witness,” Blanche said.
Merchan denied the motion from the bench, maintaining the restrictions that prevent Trump from criticizing the adult film star, one of prosecutors’ highest-profile witnesses. “That’s just not the track record,” Merchan said. “The reason why the gag order is in place to begin with is precisely because of the nature of these attacks – the vitriol.”
House Democrats Might Not Save Speaker Johnson Next Time by Andrew Solender
Updated May 15, 2024
Introduction:
(Axios) House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) appearance at former President Trump's criminal trial on Tuesday is dismaying the House Democrats who saved his job less than a week ago.
Why it matters: The trip is sending ripples through the Democratic ranks and is already being raised in leadership circles, multiple senior House Democrats told Axios.
Driving the news: At the trial, Johnson defended the former president from charges he paid hush money to cover up an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
• Johnson called the proceedings a "sham of a trial," adding, "They are doing this intentionally to keep him here and keep him off of the campaign trail. And I think everybody in the country can see that for what it is."
• Johnson also held a voter fraud press conference last week that led one Democrat who voted to save him to warn his opposition to an ouster "is not open-ended."
Trump’s Lawyers Are Making Major Mistakes by Ankush Khardori
May 14, 2024
Introduction:
(Politico) As Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan reaches a critical turning point, an amusing paradox has emerged. For once, Trump claims to be happy with his lawyers’ performance after a long history of fractious relationships with his attorneys. This might ordinarily be a welcome development for him — but the problem is that they are not doing a particularly good job defending him.
Put simply, Trump’s legal team has made several considerable, and at times baffling, missteps over the course of the trial that have increased the odds of a conviction.
Adding to the strangeness of all this is the fact that Trump’s defense team is probably the strongest group that he has assembled in any of his various legal proceedings to date. The principal lawyers are experienced criminal litigators who, as a group, are moderately to very well regarded among New York City’s white-collar bar.
