(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Could Trump Be Put Under A Gag Order? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-03 A Dream Come True Tomorrow (Tuesday) Trump gets arraigned in a Manhattan Court where Judge Juan Merchan has earned a very much no-nonsense reputation. Leading up to this appearance Trump has had some nasty things to say about this judge. Consider this Truth Social post where Trump claimed the judge “hates me” falsely suggested he was appointed by the prosecutor, and claimed the Judge Merchan railroaded his CFO who pled guilty: Yes, Trump actually really did even spell the Judge’s name wrong (it’s “Merchan,” not “Marchan.”) In regards to Prosecutor Alvin Bragg, Trump has been even less reserved. He essentially threatened “death & destruction” if indicted and called Bragg “a degenerate psychopath” who hates the U.S.A. Crazy as that is, it is just a sampling. An even more blatant example at intimidation was this Trump post depicting Trump menacing Bragg (a black man) with a baseball bat. That post was eventually deleted, though it took a couple of days. Trump has used this kind of rhetoric to fund raise millions since the indictment. What’s more, Trump is promising more. Trump has indicated he actually intends to amp up this sort of attacks. He has told followers he plans to “rough em up.” All of this is kind of tough for a judge to just ignore. The judge could issue a gag order, applicable to all the parties and lawyers in the case, to not speak about the case publicly. If you doubt this can be done to a defendant, the judge in Roger Stone’s case did exactly that. The problem is Trump is running for President and will claim that not being able to defend himself publicly is “election interference.” The judge will likely weigh and consider a range of options. A sweeping gag order similar to the one described above put on Roger Stone. Trump would likely be able to generally deny his guilt in public, but say little more. A much more restrictive gag order, directing judge to not personally attack those involved in the case, including the prosecutors, the judge, and any potential jury. A strong warning to Trump that he is dancing on the edge of a gag order and advising him that further comments of the nature of those discussed will quickly prompt the judge to issue one. The judge could also mostly let the matter slide, perhaps making a statement that all involved should be cautious in their public comments about the case. Something towards the middle of that spectrum is the most likely result for tomorrow. Though it should be noted that Trump’s deportment before the judge at the arraignment could move the bar. If Trump presents a more reserved countenance, pledging to be more cautious in the future, the judge could move things down the scale. If Trump comes out with his bombastic guns blazing before the court, trying to score soundbites to rile up his MAGAs, the judge could move it up the scale. I’ll leave it to you which of those scenarios more comports with your understanding of how Trump acts. This could be the first test of whether his attorneys can control him and keep him from doing more stupid, self destructive things as this case (and others) proceed. So what if Trump violated any restrictive orders the judge imposes? Trump could be found in contempt of court, and in theory, jailed. Such result is exceptionally unlikely on the first go around. Rather, there would likely be a series of escalating orders (tightening the gag order) with eventual dire warnings from the judge along with financial penalties. When the judge did that with Roger Stone, he finally, mostly shut up. Would Trump? [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/3/2161886/-Could-Trump-Be-Put-Under-A-Gag-Order Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/