Judge Slaps Trump With Fine for Violating Gag Order in Fraud Case
Judge Slaps Trump With Fine for Violating Gag Order in Fraud Case
"Make no mistake: future violations, whether intentional or unintentional, will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions,” wrote the judge
Former President Donald Trump received a $5,000 fine on Friday for violating the gag order put in place by Judge Arthur Engoron to protect his staff and his courtroom’s proceedings.
$5000. What bullshit.
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That seems meaningless.
It doesn't mean every fine will be $5k, it's a warning. The judge is saying it's a serious gag order with consequences, $5k is probably the average fine for first violations.
There was an open question about what the judge could do about violations of the gag order, it's just impossible that an ex President goes to jail for violations of a gag order...I'd argue he's not going regardless, but 100% not going for this. So we have an answer, there will be fines.
If this is the sort of fine he's going to get, he'll violate it as often as he can. So this is either bait, or this judge is a fucking idiot.
Crimes punished by fines only apply to poor people.
But if the judge imposes a fine that would be meaningful to a "billionaire," then he feeds the right-wing narrative of being on a vendetta against Trump. That's an issue with all the prosecutions, and doubtless part of the reason he seems to get such kid-glove treatment.
It's not the sort of fine he will get. It's the fine he's getting for a first offense for a minor violation (this was something existing since before the gag that was left up).
It's a shot across the bow to show that the weapon is loaded and the judge will use it.
Why is it impossible for an ex president to go to jail for contempt of court? He's just a citizen, now, and a citizen would have their bail revoked.
It's not literally legally impossible, but the logistics of dealing with Secret Service protection for someone in prison make it extremely difficult, plus it's obviously unprecedented to put a former president in jail, and the added complication of it being the primary competition to the sitting president in the next election.
There are a lot of reasons a judge would want to avoid prison, specifically. And the system is set up such that if there are circumstances where there's a good reason to avoid prison for a certain person, there are alternative punishments like fines or house arrest.
Throw him in solitary and post a SS member in front of the door.
Literally impossible. The physical and mental demand on everyone involved would be more than any one person could endure.
Yet we do it to millions of people in the US every day.
How is it impossible?
The secret service HAS to be there. I don't know what you don't understand about that. The secret service HAS to be there. That's without a doubt. The secret service being there that is.
Did you not read my comment about posting an SS member at the door to his cell?
Sorry, don't mind me. Just trolling.
He already had several verbal warnings. This is a joke.
But verbal warning is different thing as to a legal ruling and actual punishment action, actual real consequences and not just a strongly worded letter. Yeah 5k is meaningless for him, but it demonstrates punishment clauses can be used. Thinking is "this should make him/his lawyers read rest of the punishment scale and that should deter him".
If it doesn't, stronger punishments will be applied.
My point is that this is piddling and should have been the first or second step, not seventh. At this rate we're about 200 more incidents away from house arrest.
The need to double it every time. And keep paying attention so they don’t miss any violations.
It's symbolic at this point. That number will go up and eventually jail will come into the picture. We know that Trump can't help himself, so this is going to escalate pretty quickly in front of us.
Eventually jail... No it wont. No faith in the courts to do what is needed.
Contempt of court can easily land you in jail and that is time that would never be counted towards your eventual sentence. Rather, it is punishment for pissing off a judge, which is always a bad idea. Judges are basically gods and can do anything the hell they want as long as it is within the laws and standard regulations.
The Chicago 7 is an example. The judge was personally biased and actually threw a defense lawyer into jail under contempt charges then made the defendant appear without representation. Judge eventually put away half a dozen people for months at a time under the excuse of contempt:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Seven
ETA: The judge in that case was such an asshat that all convictions of all persons were overturned by the court of appeals. But, it didn't stop him from ruining lives.
I wasnt saying the charge wont. I'm saying that no judge would throw Trump in jail. Because of the political shitshow it would cause.
It's marginally less meaningless than the consequences he has faced so far, which have been literally nothing.
I'll take a fine over nothing. Keep it coming.
Especially since he won't even pay it like all his bills, which somehow rich people get away with regularly
Exactly.
That's because it is.