Seems to me for the past couple of weeks that most mainstream media outlets have been hoping beyond hope that Donald Trump will spend time in jail before he's convicted of anything. Following fines that were levied against him for breaking the no-talk rule about his current trial in Manhattan, threats of jail for the former president have run consistently hot and heavy.
I'm going to guess that if the rumors of him spending any time in jail were not being passed around, the folks over at MSNBC would not be able to breathe.
Poor Joe and Mika.
I first read about the new fines right HERE earlier today.
The third week of Donald Trump’s hush-money trial began with a bang, as the judge threatened to jail the former president, then continued with a whimper, as prosecutors for the first time got down to the brass tacks of proving the business-record offenses at the heart of their case.
Before jurors entered Monday, Justice Juan Merchan ruled Trump had violated his gag order for a 10th time and fined him $1,000 for claiming in an interview that the jury was mostly Democrats and that it was picked too quickly.
“Going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” Merchan said, looking directly at Trump, who was seated at the defense table. The judge said the last thing he wanted to do was jail a former and possibly next president, but that the violations were a direct attack on the rule of law. Trump is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and has been juggling attending his trial in New York—which he is required to do—with campaigning for president.
I know this is a bit of a newsflash for the government apparatus on all levels of the United States of America, but the 45th President of the United States likes to talk.
A lot.
Even when he is instructed not to do so by his advisors at times and also judge(s), he takes no prisoners in this regard. So keep piling on those financial fines because I'm pretty sure that is pocket change to POTUS 45.
Here was the part that made me giggle out loud about these newest rounds of warnings. From my colleague Matt Funicello:
Donald Trump Faces Possible Jail Time for Gag Order Violation in Manhattan Case
However, Judge Merchan has reservations about sending Trump to jail for violating the gag order. Saying that it was "the last thing he wanted to do."
“You are the former president of the United States and possibly the next president as well. There are many reasons why incarceration is truly a last resort for me. To take that step would be disruptive to these proceedings,” Merchan said.
Well, I have some news for his honor: jailing Trump might be the last thing that he wants to do but it's the one thing I don't think he actually will do.
Trump is not only a former president of the United States, but he could be the next president of the United States, and in some polling nationally, it looks like that might happen. He is guaranteed Secret Service protection from the federal government at all times -- so would they spend time with him in the cell?
If the judge did do such a thing and put Trump in jail for up to 30 days, it would of course delay the trial and drag it out, moving it even closer to its completion in November.
I've been told by several people who have been in the legal profession over the past 20 or 30 years that judges and prosecutors are just like everybody else. They have good days and bad days, and if during a trial or a hearing, you just happen to trip across a judge's last nerve, you could be in for it, depending on the judge. That is not news in and of itself, but when you're a judge whose orders usually get followed to the letter and you're up against somebody with the stature of Donald Trump, you have to take the L and move on.
I'm sure Judge Juan Merchan is the toast of the town in some sectors of New York when he makes threats like this about jailing Donald Trump and once again gets the kids over at MSNBC dreaming of a jail photo with the presumptive GOP '24 nominee in an orange jumpsuit. However, I think it's safe to say we all know that's just a pipe dream; the judge should move quickly to just get this trial over as soon as possible and let Trump move on to his next trial and campaign appearance in his contest against sleepy Joe Biden.
Maybe the judge could petition his superiors to take the money he fines Trump and give it to a holiday fund for disadvantaged kids in New York. That would help kids during the holiday and give Trump a grand talking point during the final stretch of the campaign.
Plus it would stop teasing those silly nitwits over at Morning Joe that Trump would spend a second in jail. That is cruel and unusual punishment for those folks.
