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What the Hell is Trump Doing in Court?
It was a busy day in court for Donald Trump.
In Washington on October 25 Special Counsel Jack Smith asked the court to reinstate a temporary gag order, this time with jail as the penalty, after Donald Trump called former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows (and by extension former allies who have cut deals in his election interference case elsewhere in Georgia) a weakling and coward if he agreed to testify in exchange for immunity. Trump had been under a earlier gag order which barred him from disparaging prosecutors, court staff, and potential witnesses in a pattern that the court filing called “targeting.” The fear was that Trump was calling out those he wanted MAGA supporters to go after. Smith urged Judge Chutkan to “modify the defendant’s conditions of release by making compliance with the Order a condition.”
On the same day, in response to his violation of a separate New York court gag order Judge Engoron ordered the former president to testify over an insult Trump threw at the judge’s law clerk. The judge found Trump guilty of violating his gag order and ordered Trump to pay a $10,000 fine on top of an earlier $5000. Trump stormed out of the courtroom, his somewhat bewildered Secret Service in tow. Trump technically remains free only on bail.
Pundits asked if Trump is actually trying to antagonize judges and lose both cases. Or could there be some other reason for Trump’s on-the-face-of-it non-self serving actions?
— Trump may be breaking up under the strain. One hates to even go near the “Trump is insane” 25th Amendment crowd, who think they can judge someone’s mental state long distance but one has to allow for the possibility that the stress of having his very existence and ego challenged (the NY trial after all concerns Trump’s actual net worth and status as a real estate kingpin) by small-time mooks like a judge and his clerk may have gotten to Trump. We’re seeing it play out as he strives to control his temper (hence the storming out of the courtroom.) If this is even in part an explanation for Trump’s counter-productive behavior in court it is a dangerous one, adding too much unpredictability into already tense situations. Perhaps Trump simply can’t stop himself. He’s “spent a lifetime attacking those who don’t accommodate him,” and he’s not able to quit now.
— Trump could easily believe none of this matters, certain he will be elected president in November 2024 and be in a position to pardon himself and any others convicted along the way. In Trump’s mind this is all or nothing and the little details, such as the outcome of a specific trial, matter not.
— It’s all about the appeal, part I. Trump knows he will lose the case in front of Judge Engoron, who has already substantively ruled Trump guilty and is holding the current trial sessions primarily to establish the penalty. By egging the judge on to make statements such as finding a Trump response he did not like a “lie,” ruling “as a trier of fact, I find that the witness is not credible… hollow and untrue” Trump is setting up an appeal claiming the judge is biased against him (otherwise, you generally as a defendant do not do things to encourage the judge to throw the book at you.) It is unclear if this is productive or even needed; there is already plenty to work with in the guise of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, a star prosecution witness who is also a sworn enemy of Trump, a convicted felon, and serial liar singing for his supper. Cohen’s testimony is weak, claiming the former president never directly asked him to over-value Trump Organization assets, but instead implied somehow mind-reading style that he do so.
— It’s all about the appeal, part II. The judges’ gag orders against Trump rub rough against the First Amendment, which will form the basis of appeals independent of the trial content themselves. The ACLU, no friend of Donald Trump, argues the gag order imposed by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington barring Trump from making public statements about special counsel Jack Smith, the defense counsel or members of the court violates the Constitution’s 1A. “No modern-day president did more damage to civil liberties and civil rights than President Trump,” the group wrote in a press release. “But if we allow his free speech rights to be abridged, we know that other unpopular voices — even ones we agree with — will also be silenced.”
Specifically, the ACLU argued Chutkan’s order is too vague, too broad, and not sufficiently justified. Trump made many “patently false” statements which have “caused great harm to countless individuals,” the group wrote. But he nevertheless “retains a First Amendment right to speak, and the rest of us retain a right to hear what he has to say.” Prior restraint on Trump’s speech must be “precisely defined and narrowly tailored,” the ACLU wrote, arguing that Chutkan’s order “fails that test.” For example, the prohibition on making public statements that “target” certain individuals is “unconstitutionally vague.” Trump “cannot possibly know what he is permitted to say, and what he is not.”
— It’s all about the appeal, part III. The substance of an appeal is irrelevant, as long as the appeal can be dragged out past the November 2024 election. It is easy to imagine a “throw it all against the wall and see what sticks” approach to buy time. An appeals court could just as easily applaud the two judges for showing restraint when they might have thrown Trump in jail for contempt. No matter, as long as it all chews up the space until the election.
Trump looks like a man who simply does not care what happens with the current trials, or any of the upcoming others. He is both convinced the system is fully unfair and equally aware that the more trouble he seems to get into the faster his poll numbers rise. Each courtroom defeat, small and procedural or a full-on guilty verdict, simply fans the flames for rally crowds. The cash penalties levied by Judges Engoron and Chutkan for violating gag orders have little meaning.
But Trump actually being jailed for violating a gag order would grant him official martyr status. Within a week of his release Trump will be comparing himself to the jailed Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, freedom fighters all. He could then literally test an earlier boast by shooting someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and not lose any supporters, or perhaps with MAGA cheers in the background simply flipping off one of the judges who dare seek to decide his fate.
Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved. The views expressed here are solely those of the author(s) in their private capacity.
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Rich Bauer said...
1“But Trump actually being jailed for violating a gag order would grant him official martyr status.”
You mean, like Jeff Epstein?
11/9/23 8:36 AM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
2Bauer- I have to assume that those working for the American incarceration system are all MAGA types. Trump would be in safe hands.
11/9/23 3:54 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
3JP,
Peter is delusional with his wet dream of Mandela Trump. It happens when you write crap for the morons who swallow the American Conservative. Does anyone in their right mind really think Trump would be jailed in Rikers when he is under Secret Service protection? The Gaga order violation would result at most in House arrest in Bedminster with no access to the internet, the only realistic recourse.
When Trump is convicted and sentenced five years for the other crimes, the Deep State will have to hold him in his own prison wing. In Georgia. He would demand to be in Florida near Melania, but she would refuse citing cruel and unusual punishment…for her.
11/10/23 7:31 AM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
4Your prognostication sounds…….. sound. I’m now starting to become curious about any conjugal visiting rights. What about non conjugal visits -say by escorts and old flames such as Stormy?
11/11/23 8:30 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
5JP,
I predict Trump will get plenty of sex from his fellow cellmates, like the Mexican Mafia, Muslim brotherhood, Crips, Bloods, etc etc. Trump always said the Mexicans were criminals and rapists. He gonna find out.
11/11/23 11:13 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
6JP,
Trump will face another gag order in prison.
11/11/23 11:46 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
7“Within a week of his release Trump will be comparing himself to the jailed Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, ..”
Actually, the little Dick-eater will be comparing himself to a certain concentration camp dictator:
New York Post: Donald Trump is plotting an intense crackdown on immigration if he is elected to a second term next year — including rounding up undocumented immigrants and holding them in large detention camps as they wait to be expelled from the country, according to a report.
The leading contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination is aiming to deport millions of people each year, several advisors told The New York Times.
Trump’s concentration camp plan would not only target the nearly 4 million migrants that have crossed the US border since President Biden took office in 2021, but who have lived in the US for decades.
11/12/23 6:43 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
8“What the Hell is Trump Doing in Court?”
Is this a trick question, Peter?
On Saturday at 10:25 a.m., the diseased brain of Donnie Trump posted on Truth Social: “In honor of our great Veterans on Veteran’s Day, we pledge to you that we will root out the Communists, Marxists, Fascists, and Radical Left Thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country, lie, steal, and cheat on Elections, and will do anything possible, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America, and the American dream.” Then, at a rally in New Hampshire later that day, he repeated those words essentially verbatim—promising to “root out … the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country”—and then doubled down on it: “The real threat is not from the radical right, the real threat is from the radical left, and it’s growing every day, every single day. The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within. Our threat is from within.”
The question is why the hell Peter doesn’t condemn this guy..
11/13/23 4:09 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
9“Trump looks like a man who simply does not care what happens with the current trials, or any of the upcoming others. He is both convinced the system is fully unfair and equally aware that the more trouble he seems to get into the faster his poll numbers rise. Each courtroom defeat, small and procedural or a full-on guilty verdict, simply fans the flames for rally crowds.”
The MAGA millions are convinced democracy is unfair. They realize they are outnumbered by millions, and that number will only increase with the growth of the the Latino population. The Latino population, now about 1 in 5 Americans, is projected to continue increasing through the year 2060, when over 1 in 4 Americans are likely to be Latino. Trump ain’t getting minority voters by making racist comments in front of his white supporters. Not surprising Trump is desperate to make his concentration camps a reality. Fan the flames for Making America Germany Again. But we know history tends to repeat itself. The question is Will Argentina accept the MAGGOTS?
11/13/23 4:25 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
10The Prisoner
When Trump is sentenced to prison, it won’t be some hellhole in Georgia. It will be like the one The Prisoner aka Patrick McGoohan was sentenced. It will however be a death sentence, as Trump’s unhealthy McDonalds addiction will eventually stroke him out before he is released on parole. His will be a coward’s death, which is consistent with the coward’s life. Trump for all his false bravado never risked his own life. He entrapped his thugs in the PB and Boogalosers to risk theirs. As for all those MAGA cowards who SAY the election was stolen but did nothing, they, like the guy they identify with, sat at home in their comfy prisons eating their McDonalds.
11/14/23 5:32 PM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
11Bauer- PVB may not want to dismiss Trump completely because he may harbor the fantasy of being in Trump’s cabinet for a second term or at least Trump’s speechwriter. I can’t think of any other reason. PVB knows that Trump isn’t pure evil. I personally consider Obama more devious and self enamored than Trump. Obama had more morally blind admirers than Trump will ever have.
11/15/23 11:40 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
12JP,
To assume Trump is evil implies he is intelligent. Trump is just an idiot who preys on bigger idiots. Looking at the damage the idiot has done, I had thought he could have been a Soros-plant paid millions to destroy the GOP from inside. Look at the last GOP debate field. How else can you explain it? I am sure Pompeo is laughing himself to sleep knowing he won’t have any credible competition in 2028.
11/16/23 9:04 AM | Comment Link
John Poole said...
13The more interesting focus for me is on the Democratic Party. If Trump picks a feisty female running mate then it won’t matter who the Democrats run. They can’t run Hillary as a Hail Mary. Biden’s fate accompli announcement (black female for VP then SCOTUS) was as autocratic as it gets. I sense many Independents are repulsed at such arrogance and will abstain as will I.
11/16/23 1:38 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
14“I think progress is the biggest enemy on earth, apart from oneself. I think we’re gonna take good care of this planet shortly… there’s never been a weapon created yet on the face of the Earth that hadn’t been used. We’re run by the Pentagon, we’re run by Madison Avenue, we’re run by television, and as long as we accept those things and don’t revolt we’ll have to go along with the stream to the eventual avalanche… As long as we go out and buy stuff, we’re at their mercy. We’re at the mercy of the advertiser and of course there are certain things that we need, but a lot of the stuff that is bought is not needed…We all live in a little Village… Your village may be different from other people’s villages but we are all prisoners.” – Patrick McGoohan
11/18/23 10:52 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
15From a guy who wants to occupy the White House:
“2024 is our final battle. With you at my side, we will demolish the Deep State, we will expel the warmongers from our government, we will drive out the globalists, we will cast out the Communists, Marxists, and Fascists, we will throw off the sick political class that hates our Country, we will rout the Fake News Media, we will evict Joe Biden from the White House, and we will FINISH what we started.”
Note: if a regular guy was screaming this nonsense he wouldn’t be allowed in Walmart.
11/20/23 11:03 AM | Comment Link