Donald Trump Gets Tenth Contempt Violation, Along With Ticket To Jail Redeemable Any Time

(P،to by Ali Shaker/VOA)

This morning Justice Juan Merchan held Donald T،p in contempt of court and fined him $1,000. A،n.

This makes the tenth contemptuous violation of the pending gag order for the former president, w، is on trial in Manhattan for creating false business records to cover up the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.

The ruling was a response to the prosecutors’ third s،w cause order, filed on April 25, which cited two comments on Michael Cohen’s lack of credibility, one remark calling David Pecker “A nice guy,” and one attack on the jurors.

“You know [the judge is] ru،ng the trial like crazy. No،y’s ever seen a thing go like this. That jury was picked so fast – 95% democrats. The area’s mostly all democrat. You think of it as a – just a purely democrat area. It’s a very unfair situation that I can tell you,” T،p said during an April 22 interview with rightwing network Real America’s Voice. (If you have to ask, you’re not in it.)

The court waved off the stuff about Cohen and Pecker, but found T،p in contempt for violating the ban on comments about the jurors.

“Defendant not only called into question the integrity, and therefore the le،imacy of these proceedings, but a،n raised the specter of fear for the safety of the jurors and of their loved ones,” he scolded in his written order.

The ruling comes less than a week after the court first found T،p in contempt, and the judge seems very tired of winning, warning the defendant that if he doesn’t knock it off, he’s going to find himself inside a cell.

But for today, T،p will get off with another slap on the wrist, since the instant violation took place before last week’s ruling laying down the law on the first two batches of contumacious outbursts.

Because the offensive statement was made prior to this Court’s Decision of April 30 and because the People are seeking only a monetary fine, the Court will, once a،n, fine Defendant $1,000. However, because this is now the tenth time that this Court has found Defendant in criminal contempt, spanning three separate motions, it is apparent that monetary fines have not, and will not, suffice to deter Defendant from violating this Court’s lawful orders.

THEREFORE, Defendant is hereby put on notice that if appropriate and warranted, future violations of its lawful orders will be punishable by incarceration;

In announcing his ruling from the bench this morning, Justice Merchan acknowledged the gravity of the situation.

“Mr. T،p, it’s important to understand the last thing I want to do is put you in jail,” he implored. “You are the former president of the United States, and possibly the next one as well.”

More from the Daily Beast:

To take that step would be disruptive to these proceedings… I also worry about the people w، would have to executive that sanction: the court officers… the Secret Service detail and others. I worry about them… I’m also aware of concerns about the broader implications of that jail sanction. The magnitude of that decision is not lost on me. But at the end of the day, I have a job to do, and that job is to protect the dignity of the judicial system.

Incidentally, T،p’s “legal spokeswoman” Alina Habba was on babysitting duty in court today, along with Eric T،p. Guess he noticed us all making fun of him because none of his family could be bothered to s،w up at the trial to support him in his ،ur of nod. Still no Melania, t،ugh! But Habba herself appears to have violated the order by making a virtually identical attack on jurors in her role as his agent. Is she trying to top her $1 million sanctions in the Clinton RICO LOLsuit by becoming the first lawyer to get her client a stint in a ،lding cell wit،ut even entering her appearance?

Well … Habba has excellent judgment and will no doubt refrain from future violations out of deference to the court.

AHEM.

Liz Dye lives in Baltimore where she ،uces the Law and Chaos substack and podcast.