(Photo
by
Ali
Shaker/VOA)
This
morning
Justice
Juan
Merchan
held
Donald
Trump
in
contempt
of
court
and
fined
him
$1,000.
Again.
This
makes
the
tenth
contemptuous
violation
of
the
pending
gag
order
for
the
former
president,
who
is
on
trial
in
Manhattan
for
creating
false
business
records
to
cover
up
the
hush
money
payment
to
Stormy
Daniels
before
the
2016
election.
The
ruling
was
a
response
to
the
prosecutors’
third
show
cause
order,
filed
on
April
25,
which
cited
two
comments
on
Michael
Cohen’s
lack
of
credibility,
one
remark
calling
David
Pecker
“A
nice
guy,”
and
one
attack
on
the
jurors.
“You
know
[the
judge
is]
rushing
the
trial
like
crazy.
Nobody’s
ever
seen
a
thing
go
like
this.
That
jury
was
picked
so
fast
–
95%
democrats.
The
area’s
mostly
all
democrat.
You
think
of
it
as
a
–
just
a
purely
democrat
area.
It’s
a
very
unfair
situation
that
I
can
tell
you,”
Trump
said
during
an
April
22
interview
with
rightwing
network
Real
America’s
Voice.
(If
you
have
to
ask,
you’re
not
in
it.)
The
court
waved
off
the
stuff
about
Cohen
and
Pecker,
but
found
Trump
in
contempt
for
violating
the
ban
on
comments
about
the
jurors.
“Defendant
not
only
called
into
question
the
integrity,
and
therefore
the
legitimacy
of
these
proceedings,
but
again
raised
the
specter
of
fear
for
the
safety
of
the
jurors
and
of
their
loved
ones,”
he
scolded
in
his
written
order.
The
ruling
comes
less
than
a
week
after
the
court
first
found
Trump
in
contempt,
and
the
judge
seems
very
tired
of
winning,
warning
the
defendant
that
if
he
doesn’t
knock
it
off,
he’s
going
to
find
himself
inside
a
cell.
But
for
today,
Trump
will
get
off
with
another
slap
on
the
wrist,
since
the
instant
violation
took
place
before
last
week’s
ruling
laying
down
the
law
on
the
first
two
batches
of
contumacious
outbursts.
Because
the
offensive
statement
was
made
prior
to
this
Court’s
Decision
of
April
30
and
because
the
People
are
seeking
only
a
monetary
fine,
the
Court
will,
once
again,
fine
Defendant
$1,000.
However,
because
this
is
now
the
tenth
time
that
this
Court
has
found
Defendant
in
criminal
contempt,
spanning
three
separate
motions,
it
is
apparent
that
monetary
fines
have
not,
and
will
not,
suffice
to
deter
Defendant
from
violating
this
Court’s
lawful
orders.THEREFORE,
Defendant
is
hereby
put
on
notice
that
if
appropriate
and
warranted,
future
violations
of
its
lawful
orders
will
be
punishable
by
incarceration;
In
announcing
his
ruling
from
the
bench
this
morning,
Justice
Merchan
acknowledged
the
gravity
of
the
situation.
“Mr.
Trump,
it’s
important
to
understand
the
last
thing
I
want
to
do
is
put
you
in
jail,”
he
implored.
“You
are
the
former
president
of
the
United
States,
and
possibly
the
next
one
as
well.”
More
from
the
Daily
Beast:
To
take
that
step
would
be
disruptive
to
these
proceedings…
I
also
worry
about
the
people
who
would
have
to
executive
that
sanction:
the
court
officers…
the
Secret
Service
detail
and
others.
I
worry
about
them…
I’m
also
aware
of
concerns
about
the
broader
implications
of
that
jail
sanction.
The
magnitude
of
that
decision
is
not
lost
on
me.
But
at
the
end
of
the
day,
I
have
a
job
to
do,
and
that
job
is
to
protect
the
dignity
of
the
judicial
system.
Incidentally,
Trump’s
“legal
spokeswoman”
Alina
Habba
was
on
babysitting
duty
in
court
today,
along
with
Eric
Trump.
Guess
he
noticed
us
all
making
fun
of
him
because
none
of
his
family
could
be
bothered
to
show
up
at
the
trial
to
support
him
in
his
hour
of
nod.
Still
no
Melania,
though!
But
Habba
herself
appears
to
have
violated
the
order
by
making
a
virtually
identical
attack
on
jurors
in
her
role
as
his
agent.
Is
she
trying
to
top
her
$1
million
sanctions
in
the
Clinton
RICO
LOLsuit
by
becoming
the
first
lawyer
to
get
her
client
a
stint
in
a
holding
cell
without
even
entering
her
appearance?
Well
…
Habba
has
excellent
judgment
and
will
no
doubt
refrain
from
future
violations
out
of
deference
to
the
court.
AHEM.
Liz
Dye lives
in
Baltimore
where
she
produces
the
Law
and
Chaos substack and podcast.