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| (Image courtesy of Mary L. Trump) |
The New York judge in Donald Trump's election-interference/hush-money case -- the one involving porn star Stormy Daniels -- has zapped Trump with the most severe gag order he has faced. The move comes after Trump made derogatory remarks about Judge Juan Mercan and his family, according to a social-media post at Substack by Mary L. Trump -- psychologist, author, Donald's niece, and one of his most outspoken critics. The latest gag order could place Donald Trump on the precipice of landing in jail. Under the headline "BREAKING: Donald is Gagged; Here’s why this time is different," Mary Trump writes:
Donald is slapped with a gag order in his election-interference case after attacking the judge and his daughter in Truth Social posts. The judge promises to curtail any of Donald’s attempts to “interfere” with the case. Here is what the media is missing. Read on.
Just when you thought the criminal case against Donald couldn’t get any worse for him, he has just received news that his vile and potentially dangerous social-media posts about the judge and his family must stop, or there will be a price to pay.
Per NBC News:
“The ruling from Judge Juan Merchan orders [Donald] to ‘refrain’ from ‘making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation’ in the falsifying- business records case, as well as about individual prosecutors, court staff, jurors and potential jurors.”
Further, “the judge said the move was necessary because ‘the Defendant’s prior extrajudicial statements establishes a sufficient risk to the administration of justice’ and ‘there exists no less restrictive means to prevent such risk.”
The order does not apply to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, because he is an elected official.
Mary Trump says the judge had little choice but to take action:
After Donald’s attempts to delay his New York criminal trial failed, and an April 15 start date was set, prosecutors argued that gagging Donald was necessary because of his “longstanding history of attacking witnesses, investigators, prosecutors, judges, and others involved in legal proceedings against him.”
True to form, Donald responded with the restraint of a toddler by attacking not only Judge Merchan (declaring “he hates me!” and suggesting he suffered from "Trump Derangement Syndrome") but also the judge’s daughter.
Donald wrote: “His daughter is a senior executive at a Super Liberal Democrat firm that works for Adam “Shifty” Schiff, the Democrat National Committee, (Dem) Senate Majority PAC, and even Crooked Joe Biden,"
The Stormy Daniels matter could turn dark and stormy very soon for Donald Trump. Writes Mary:
The election-interference case against Donald is shaping up to be a worst-case scenario for him: it forces him to be in a courtroom during the height of the campaign and his historically rude and entitled in-court behavior will be on full display before the media, and the rest of the country.
It’s worth taking a minute to reflect on the stunning level of self-defeating foolishness required to attack the judge and his family a mere three weeks before jury selection is slated to begin.
It’s a decision he might soon regret.
The Judge Mercan gag order is unlike anything Donald Trump has faced before. Mary Trump explains:
Unlike Judge Engoron’s more narrow, limited gag order, which pertained only to verbal attacks on court staff, Judge Merchan’s goes a step further, and covers additional groups of people involved in the court process, including witnesses and even potential witnesses.
I consulted lawyer Joe Gallina, and he said “Donald could find himself in jail soon. Especially as the court notes his record of prior extrajudicial statements. It seems very unlikely this judge will allow Donald to violate this order again and again when he already has a long history of being warned.”
While Donald seemed to skirt his previous gag orders, his fragile ego and destabilitizing insecurity put him in a precarious position. There is evidence that Donald is becoming even more unhinged and his decision-making process even less reliable. The more stress he feels from being prevented from saying or doing whatever he wants will push his rhetoric to become even more violence-oriented and extreme.
My family and I have seen Donald’s narcissism and lack of self-control firsthand. When he is under pressure, Donald has zero self-control. The question now is whether or not Donald will violate the most strict gag order he has faced.
Mary Trump seems to think the answer is yes; after all, he has violated these kinds of orders in the past and faced relatively small fines as punishment. This time, the punishment could be much more severe:
As a reminder, Donald was fined $5,000 by Judge Engoron’s court for violating that gag order, and he was fined another $10,000. The judge twice warned him about the potential for possible imprisonment (and he should have been sent to prison).
He may finally be out of chances.
As often seems to be the case on stories about Donald Trump, the media seems to be missing the real story here, Mary states:
While the focus is on Donald’s likelihood of paying stiff penalties and ending up in jail, I invite you to consider another consequence: the gag order limits Donald’s ability to control the narrative and poison the court of public opinion.
Donald has always presented himself as history’s most aggrieved victim, a lone fighter battling against a system he claims is rigged against him. This strategy has worked well for him and it appears it’s one he’ll continue to employ as his civil and criminal legal challenges mount.
Donald wrote after his New York fraud verdict: “A Crooked New York State Judge, working with a totally Corrupt Attorney General who ran on the basis of ‘I will get Trump,’ before knowing anything about me or my company, has just fined me $355 Million based on nothing other than having built a GREAT COMPANY. ELECTION INTERFERENCE. WITCH HUNT”
No matter how many times he is warned, Donald Trump can't help himself. Treating people with disrespect and insults never is a good strategy. With judges, it is a particularly bad idea, They have the authority to put you in places you do not want to be. Mary writes:
Donald has frequently claimed that these investigations — the “witch hunts” and “hoaxes” as he calls them — are politically motivated attempts to undermine him and his campaign. By doing so, he seeks to rally his base and portray any adverse outcomes as the result of unfair treatment and bias against him.
In other words, Donald Trump refuses to take responsibility for anything and plays his supporters for fools -- and quite a few of them go along with it, perhaps because they ARE fools. Mary writes:
By taking away Donald’s ability to go on the attack against court staff and witnesses, Merchan is inadvertently stripping Donald of one of his go-to tools to keep his base angry and try to make inroads with disillusioned independents.
Will this latest development lead to the self-inflicted blow that finally lands Donald behind bars? Maybe. Will it further hurt his election chances? They had certainly better.
It’s time to grab a seat with me, and break out the 🍿.
Mary Trump is a leading figure in a nationwide effort to keep Donald Trump out of the presidency, a position, she says, he is profoundly unfit to hold:
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