It might be time
Trump continues to do whatever he wants all the time.
t Donald Trump’s arraignment last Thursday for trying to overturn the result of the 2020 election, magistrate judge Moxila A Upadhyaya warned him that he could be taken into custody if he violated the conditions of his release, including attempting to influence jurors or intimidate future witnesses.
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The judge then warned Trump: “You have heard your conditions of release. It is important you comply. You may be held pending trial in this case if you violate the conditions of release.”
She asked Trump: “Do you understand these warnings and consequence, sir? Are you prepared to comply?”
Trump responded: “Yes.”
But not 24 hours later, Trump posted on social media a message that could be understood as an attempt to influence potential jurors or retaliate against any witness prepared to testify against him: He wrote: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”
More than could be, I think. He’s facing a trial. He’s been told not to try to influence or intimidate jurors. He shouts a threat on social media. Can jurors feel 100% confident that he doesn’t mean that threat for them? I don’t think so.
On Friday evening, prosecutors from the office of special counsel Jack Smith asked the court for a protective order to stop Trump from making public any of the information they were about to deliver to his lawyers under the discovery phase of the upcoming criminal trial, such as the names of witnesses who will testify against him.
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On Saturday, the presiding judge in the case, Judge Tanya Chutkan, ordered that Trump’s lawyers respond to the prosecutor’s request for a protective order by 5pm Monday.
All through the weekend, Trump continued to threaten potential witnesses.
“WOW, it’s finally happened! Liddle’ Mike Pence, a man who was about to be ousted as Governor Indiana until I came along and made him VP, has gone to the Dark Side,” he posted Saturday.
And Trump hasn’t stopped attempting to obstruct justice.
On Sunday he called Jack Smith “deranged”, and in another all-caps message he accused Smith of waiting to bring the case until “right in the middle” of his election campaign.
In another post he asserted that he would never get a “fair trial” with Chutkan and jurors from Washington DC.
These statements directly violate the conditions of Trump’s release pending trial.
But he’s not just some raggedy ordinary person, he’s DONALD TRUMP, so he gets to ignore what judges tell him to do and refrain from doing.
Trump is now under the supervision of the court, as would be any criminal defendant after an arraignment.
But he will continue to test the willingness and ability of the court to treat him like any other criminal defendant unless he’s reined in.
The court must fully assert the rule of law during these proceedings, even if that requires threatening Trump with jail pending his trial. And if he continues to refuse to abide by the conditions of his release, it might be time to actually jail him.
Ya think?
I think I’ve found the loophole that his lawyer might exploit should they revoke Trump’s bail for non-compliance with the conditions.
‘Your honor, as you were asking my client that final question he felt a tickle in his throat and coughed in order to relieve it. Unfortunately, that caused him to not hear the last word in full. To be precise, he missed hearing its first syllable and so thought you asked if he was prepared to lie. As your honor accepted his confirmation of the question then he had no reason not to take to social media to voice his opinions regarding the case, so I contend that he has in fact complied fully with the conditions set’.