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GOP
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The saga of the Donald Trump gag order in New York has taken another turn, as yesterday, a panel of judges re-imposed the order that they had temporarily stayed.
The order does not explain exactly what persuaded the judges to make this move, but it does allude to their having read "the papers with respect to the motion." That presumably is a reference, at least in part, to the "deluge" of threats made against Judge Arthur Engoron and his law clerk. Court employees transcribed all the threatening voicemails that have been received, and the resulting, single-spaced document runs... 275 pages.
Trump did not take kindly to this news, and responded by using his failing boutique social media platform to attack Engoron's wife. The gag order does not cover family members of court employees, but that may change in the near future.
Thus far, the New York court system has been handling Trump with kid gloves, but that's surely going to come to an end sometime soon, maybe today. As to Trump, it's yet another case where we just don't understand his mindset. Is he simply unable to control himself? Or is he trying to get himself arrested so as to make himself into some sort of martyr? The former president did compare himself to Nelson Mandela several weeks ago, which is absurd, but might just speak to his thinking. In any event, it's not too easy to end up in jail as the result of a civil case, but Trump is certainly doing his best to buck the odds. (Z)