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.
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.
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.
It’s because it Is.
5k? What a loser, that Judge should throw it up to 200k and state if it happens again it will include jail time. Why does everyone walk on eggshells with these idiots, I don't care who it is, fine them and jail them
It should have already included jail time. If you or I violated a gag order they'd just revoke bail.
Unfortunately Trump's best and only defense right now is that this is all a deep state witch hunt and he's being treated unfairly by the justice system. The way to not let that defense gain any traction is to make it painfully obvious to any observer that they are handling Trump as a defendant with kid gloves.
I feel like treating him like a regular person would also demonstrate that they're treating him fairly.
What's the average punishment for what he did? Perhaps it's a $5k fine. I don't have a clue.
Pretty much my thought. We can say it's nothing because he's rich, and to him it is nothing, but to the majority of people 5k is absolutely devastating
That's tragic evidence of a whole separate set of problems.
I cannot fathom how people don't get this. Look, if I told you what I would do to every human being that planned and participated on 01/06, I would get perma banned. I got more PTSD from that day than from literally having my ass kicked and robbed on Christmas Eve. I'm more than a leetle mad.
But we gotta handle this very damned carefully. Yes, that means being more than fair to Trump. We're going for the slam dunk conviction of the century, arguably the last two centuries.
I want this man in a concrete and steel box, with zero wiggle room to whine about unfairness.
painfully obvious to any observer
That's the problem right there: Trumpers aren't "observing" any of this, they're just absorbing what (little) the right-wing media are saying about all of this. And the right-wing media will say it's a witch hunt regardless of what's actually going on. Worrying about what the right-wing media are going to say about anything is a losing game.
Give. Him. A. Cell.
You know how many angsty rich white male teens are frustrated Daddy's money hasn't gotten them any pussy yet that are just so fucking inspired?
They don't see that $5000 and think trump did wrong. They see it and think that with enough money, there is no wrong.
Oh don't worry, further violations "will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions." So… you know… $6000.
Contempt of court and Trump in jail will be fun to watch.
Better hire an animation team then. Cause you're not gonna see it irl unless/ until there's a conviction (and probably 50/50 then).
Oh noooooo! $5,000.00? He might have to look behind all three sofa cushions to raise all that!
Engoron told the former president and his attorneys in court Friday that he wanted to "make clear that Mr. Trump is responsible for the large machine, even if it is a large machine," reported CNBC. However, in his written motion, the judge said that a fine of $5,000—a small financial burden for Trump—was reasonable given that it was a "first time violation."
"Make no mistake," Engoron added, "Future violations, whether intentional or unintentional will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions, which may include, but are not limited to, steeper financial penalties, holding Donald Trump in contempt of court, and possibly imprisoning him pursuant to New York Judiciary Law."
Giving this fucker a warning at this stage is absolutely ridiculous. He's done so much damage and just continues to get treated like some special snowflake.
It's fucked up.
It should have been $5,000 a day until he apologized to the staff named in his attack.
If the punishment is a fine, it just means there is a cost to the activity. It isn't actually illegal, you just can't afford it.
What kind of softcore court porn shit is this?
softcore court porn
That is a fabulous tongue twister. I can barely think it without getting tangled.
Softpourt core corn?
A) it is a pitiful amount
B) he will get his rubes to pay it
No incentive to STFU.
Tired of the courts twisting themselves into pretzels to accommodate this creep.
The judge explained the reasoning. This was a warning shot.
I hope they add a 0 every time he steps out of line.
Fines are only a punishment for the impoverished.
His fanboys will fall head over heels to pay this for their idol. He will basically make money with that move.
Even one night in jail would be better.
Does he have $5,000?
Don't worry, your grandpa does.
Fuck now I'm sad
Let's see if that ever gets paid.
JuStICe SeRveD
