Judge Juan Merchan has found former President Donald Trump in contempt for violating the gag order in his hush money trial for the 10th time and said he’ll consider jail time going forward.
The judge doesn’t want to give Trump’s team any ammunition for an appeal.
If you believe this shit, you’re fooling yourself. Guy’s gotten ten warnings when any off-the-street plaintiff would be lucky to get one. Not only will there be ammo for appeal, Merchan is building precedent of untouchability. My man is straight up announcing
The last thing I want to do is put you in jail.
I-fucking-magine this getting said during any other trial. How much more biased can a judge get?
Playing Devil’s Advocate here, but nine of those were all reviewed at the same time, and while the decision to group them all together and issue a final warning was pending, the tenth violation was committed. Technically, and this is a really big fuckin’ technically, he has not committed any violations since being put “on notice” that the monetary punishments are over and the jail time would start. They decided on one today that occurred before that decision, so they’re not holding it to the same standard.
I do believe the next violation will carry jail time, without a doubt. Trump has also mostly shut up since being put on notice as well because he doesn’t want to be put in a cell any more than you or I do.
But it is extremely, maddeningly frustrating that Trump has gotten away with it so far. The Judge’s decision today proves beyond a doubt that the law is not being equally applied in favor of Trump himself.
Honestly, I don’t know if I could be an impartial judge in this case, because knowing Trump I would have warned him the very second he stepped foot in the courtroom that he was already on notice and that he should expect jail time if even a single word escaped his mouth that is in violation of the gag order that was already in place. Maybe Judge Merchan is more magnanimous, more cool-headed, or simply too wary of the blowback from applying the law equally with a megalomaniac like Trump who has an army of idiots at his back. I don’t know. All I know is, I don’t think he’s out of line just yet, but hearing statements like “I don’t want to put you in jail” for a guy who is too rich for fines to have an impact on is not reassuring.
If you believe this shit, you’re fooling yourself. Guy’s gotten ten warnings when any off-the-street plaintiff would be lucky to get one. Not only will there be ammo for appeal, Merchan is building precedent of untouchability. My man is straight up announcing
I-fucking-magine this getting said during any other trial. How much more biased can a judge get?
Playing Devil’s Advocate here, but nine of those were all reviewed at the same time, and while the decision to group them all together and issue a final warning was pending, the tenth violation was committed. Technically, and this is a really big fuckin’ technically, he has not committed any violations since being put “on notice” that the monetary punishments are over and the jail time would start. They decided on one today that occurred before that decision, so they’re not holding it to the same standard.
I do believe the next violation will carry jail time, without a doubt. Trump has also mostly shut up since being put on notice as well because he doesn’t want to be put in a cell any more than you or I do.
But it is extremely, maddeningly frustrating that Trump has gotten away with it so far. The Judge’s decision today proves beyond a doubt that the law is not being equally applied in favor of Trump himself.
Honestly, I don’t know if I could be an impartial judge in this case, because knowing Trump I would have warned him the very second he stepped foot in the courtroom that he was already on notice and that he should expect jail time if even a single word escaped his mouth that is in violation of the gag order that was already in place. Maybe Judge Merchan is more magnanimous, more cool-headed, or simply too wary of the blowback from applying the law equally with a megalomaniac like Trump who has an army of idiots at his back. I don’t know. All I know is, I don’t think he’s out of line just yet, but hearing statements like “I don’t want to put you in jail” for a guy who is too rich for fines to have an impact on is not reassuring.
I think you’re missing the forest for the trees here, check out some of the other comments here, it’s more complicated and nuanced than that IMO
There are [rare few???] judges like that, no joke!
I’mma reference an internet one as a kind of source for a judge I met IRL who spent his free time helping folks avoid jail:
https://youtube.com/@CaughtInProvidence
Privacy protecting version:
https://piped.video/@CaughtInProvidence