May01

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Trump Legal News: The Trial (Day 9)

The courts in New York do seem to take a lot of half-days and days off. However, Judge Juan Merchan was back at it yesterday and he and his staff worked a full 9-5. Here are the big storylines:

• That Will Be $9,000; Please Pay the Cashier as You Leave: Merchan finally issued a ruling on the first 10 violations of the Trump gag order alleged by DA Alvin Bragg. The Judge overlooked one of the 10, but found Trump in criminal contempt (another presidential first!) on the other nine, and ordered him to pay $1,000/each, which is the maximum financial penalty allowed by New York law. Merchan also said that Trump was required to take the offending posts down from his boutique social media site (which he did), that the other four violations of the gag order would be considered on Thursday, and that Trump better start honoring the order or he'll be jailed.
  
  The various legal pundits agree that even if Trump is found to have violated the gag order four more times, it will only result in another $4,000 in fees, because the former president was not in contempt of court when those violations took place. However, if he moves on to (alleged) violation #15, then all bets are off, because Trump has been formally warned he's in criminal contempt. Quite a few legal pundits, like CNN's Norm Eisen, believe that Merchan will have no choice but to order Trump to spend a night in the slammer.
  
  We are not legal experts, but we are inclined to agree that $1,000 slaps on the wrist are not going to get it done from here on out, and that if the gag order is to mean anything, Merchan has to be willing to impose the more serious penalty. The problem here is that Trump wants to be jailed for a night, so he can play martyr. Heck, he hasn't even spent time behind bars yet, and he's already fundraising off the contempt ruling. Our view is that it's going to take a more serious bit of jail time to actually make an impression on Trump. If he has to spend a week in the hoosegow, eating their (non-McDonald's) food, using their showers and toilets, sleeping on their beds, then that's going to get to him much, much more than an overnight stay.
  
  
• Bluff Called: Trump has claimed throughout the trial that his fondest desire is to attend the graduation of Barron Trump on May 17, but that the mean old judge won't let him. Yesterday, however, Merchan said that the trial is moving along rapidly enough that the former president is free to join Barron on graduation day. Now Trump can't complain about the matter anymore and he's going to have to actually show up to the graduation. If he doesn't it will be front-page news across the country, and will not please Merchan.
  
  
• We Are Family?: Yesterday's session marked the first time a Trump family member has shown up to support their patriarch. It was Eric Trump, who isn't even among The Donald's three favorite children. But the defendant will have to take what he can get.
  
  
• Same Old Song and Dance: Trump is reportedly very angry with lead attorney Todd Blanche, blaming Blanche for his various setbacks, due to the lawyer not being aggressive enough. Trump has also refused to pay some of Blanche's bills. Hmmmm... where have we heard this story before? And how could Blanche be so foolish as to not demand a retainer for, say, $1 million before the trial started?
  
  
• Rock-a-Bye: Trump keeps falling asleep in court, and his defense lawyers have reportedly tried "several devices" meant to keep him awake. Nobody seems to know exactly what devices are being referred to, however, which certainly invites people to use their imaginations.
  
  
• One-Two Punch: There were two witnesses who testified yesterday. One of them was Gary Farro, a banker who used to handle Michael Cohen's money. The other was Keith Davidson, who represented both Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, and who negotiated the fees they were paid. In other words, it's the link in the chain right before Cohen and the link in the chain right after him. It's not too hard to guess what link might be coming next.

That's the latest. They'll be back at it tomorrow; today is yet another day off. (Z)