Tag: Gag Order

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Crime Donald Trump

Trump Violates Gag Order On Veteran’s Day – Calls ‘Deranged’ Jack Smith ‘A Disgrace To America’

While President Joe Biden was at Arlington National Cemetery honoring the many veterans who gave their lives for this country, failed ex-president Donald Trump was in Claremont, New Hampshire for a campaign rally, violating a court-imposed gag order and also slagging the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley.

The attack that violated the gag order came when Trump made remarks about Special Counsel Jack Smith.

“We have deranged Jack Smith. Have you ever heard of him? He’s a lovely man.”
“He’s a lovely man. He’s the Trump-hating prosecutor in the case. His wife and family despise me much more than he does, and I think he’s about a 10. They’re a 15 on a scale of 10. He was involved with the failed and very messy Lois Lerner IRS scandal.”

Then came the denigration of Gen. Milley.

“You know Mattis. General Mattis. General Milley. Real beauties.”

“General Milley is the one who decided to take the soldiers out first. General Milley is the one that said let’s leave $85 billion worth of equipment behind because it’s cheaper than taking it out. It’s cheaper than putting a tank of nice, clean fuel in the airplane and flying it to Pakistan or flying it all the way home. It’s cheaper to leave it there.”

The comments aimed at the special counsel could land Trump in very hot water with Judge Tanya Chutkan, who imposed a gag order on the disgraced former president in October. That order bars Trump from making statements targeting prosecutors, possible witnesses, and court staff.

Of course, a gag order can only be effective if there are serious penalties for the person who violates it. Will Judge Chutkan do more than merely slapping Trump with a fine? If so, he’ll gladly pay it and do worse the next time.

Maybe the judge should give Donald a week behind bars for his refusal to comply. If he does it again, make it a month. Then add a month for every future infraction. As much as Trump likes to run his mouth, he’d likely be in prison until the 2024 election.

 

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Crime Donald Trump

Michael Cohen: There’s Only One Way To Make Sure Donald Trump Obeys A Gag Order

It’s going to require a lot more than $10,000 fines to keep failed ex- president Donald Trump from violating a court-imposed gag order, according to his former personal attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen.

Cohen was a guest on MSNBC’s “Politics Nation” Saturday, and he said the current gag order is far too lenient.

“Let me be clear about this. This was the most limited gag order that I’ve ever seen. It was so limited it was almost impossible to actually violate it if you’re anyone other than Donald Trump… he can’t help himself.”

Calling Trump a “petulant child,” Cohen explained why fines are not enough to make the former president keep his big mouth shut.

“You tell the child, you can go to the candy store that has 10,000 items. You have a peanut allergy, so you can’t eat peanut M&Ms. That’s all the kid wants, and he’s going to fight you, tooth and nail, until he gets what he wants. He doesn’t care about what the judge says. $10,000? He doesn’t care.”

So what can be done? Here’s Cohen’s suggestion:

“The only thing that’s going to stop him is if they actually say to him, you know what, next time you’re going to stay downstairs in the cell for the entire night. Don’t do it again. Because what the judge said to him, you are not only creating a hassle but what you’re doing is dangerous to my staff. And I won’t allow it.”

Would a single night in lockup be enough to keep Trump quiet? If not, the judge should tell him the next time his punishment will be a month behind bars.

 

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Crime Donald Trump

Jack Smith Mocks Trump With New Court Filing: ‘He Demands Special Treatment’

A Friday evening court filing from Special Counsel Jack Smith makes clear that failed former president Donald Trump is facing serious legal consequences for recent comments he’s made, including a suggestion that former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Gen. Mark Milley, deserved the death penalty for disagreeing with the insecure manbaby ex-U.S. head of state.

According to ABC News, the filing was in response to a motion from Trump’s attorneys opposing a possible gag order that would be imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, and it referenced the death threat aimed at Milley as well as an apparent purchase of a gun by the disgraced former president during a campaign stop in South Carolina this week.

“Since [the] date [the government proposed the gag order], the defendant has continued to make statements that pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case and that fall within the narrowly tailored order proposed by the Government,” Smith’s office writes.

The filing specifically flags to DC district judge Tanya Chutkan in a footnote that earlier this week when Trump was visiting a firearms dealer in South Carolina — he was “caught potentially violating his conditions of release” by saying he was going to buy a Glock and posing with it.

Threats against Milley, a potential witness against Trump, could potentially have negative effects on jurors, too, Smith’s filing warns.

“The defendant’s baseless attacks on the Court and two individual prosecutors not only could subject them to threats—it also could cause potential jurors to develop views about the propriety of the prosecution, an improper consideration for a juror prior to trial,” Smith’s filing says.

“Likewise, the defendant’s continuing public statements about witnesses are substantially likely to materially prejudice a fair trial.”

Trump and his attorneys have asserted that Smith is seeking to “silence” him in violation of his First Amendment rights to free speech. To that, Smith’s office countered, “All (a gag order) would limit is the defendant’s use of his candidacy as a cover for making prejudicial public statements about this case—and there is no legitimate need for the defendant, in the course of his campaign, to attack known witnesses regarding the substance of their anticipated testimony or otherwise engage in materially prejudicial commentary in violation of the proposed order.”

Smith and his prosecutors also make it clear that Trump wants special treatment, which is unheard of for a criminal defendant charged with 91 separate felony counts.

“[Trump] demands special treatment, asserting that because he is a political candidate, he should have free rein to publicly intimidate witnesses and malign the Court, citizens of this District, and prosecutors.

“But in this case, Donald J. Trump is a criminal defendant like any other.”

Judge Chutkan is expected to issue a ruling on the limited gag order as soon as next week.

 

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Crime Donald Trump January 6

Former Judge Predicts Trump Is About To Be Silenced With A Far-Reaching Gag Order

Having proven that he will not comply with the instructions given to him by a federal magistrate judge when he was arraigned in Washington, D.C. last week, former president Donald Trump is likely to be hit with a far-reaching gag order, according to retired California Superior Court Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell

Cordell was a guest on CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlan Collins,” and was asked for a prediction regarding what the presiding judge in the case, Tanya Chutkan, will do to control Trump from making posts such as the one in which he threatened “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”

“I don’t know necessarily that that quote impacts the protective order, but that certainly would get me thinking if I were the trial judge about a gag order in this case,” Cordell said.

“It’s clearly a threat, and a good trial judge doesn’t just look at the law, you use common sense,” she added.

That means a gag order is likely, Cordell continued, and “my guess is Trump would violate it in a heartbeat and then we’ll see what the judge does in terms of consequences for violating yet another court order.”

That led Collins to ask, “So you think there will be a gag order here? At least you think that there should be?”

Cordell: “I absolutely can see it coming because this man cannot shut up. He’s a ‘chatty Charlie’ and he’s going to just talk and talk and he really doesn’t care about rules that say you can speak or cannot speak.”

“So this is where the test of a good trial judge comes about. If you’re going to have a fair trial, it’s going to be by the rules set by that person in the black robe,” Cordell continued. And if the rules are you do not talk about this other than in the court, because it’s not punishment it’s to ensure fair trial. If that doesn’t happen, there have to be immediate consequences to violating a court order.”

“Only in that way can everyone have respect for the system.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vJO2EkEs0w