this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2023
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Donald Trump on Wednesday launched fresh vitriol against the judge and prosecuting attorney in his New York business fraud trial, carefully skirting a gag order imposed on him just a day prior.

Trump tried Tuesday to bully a court clerk, sharing false conspiracies about her as well as her personal information. Presiding Judge Arthur Engoron issued a gag order later that day prohibiting all parties involved in the case from publicly discussing court staff.

While Trump avoided mentioning court staff on Wednesday, he went all out with attacks against Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

“This is election interference. They made up a fake case, these fraudulent people,” Trump told reporters. “And the judge already knows what he’s gonna do. He’s a Democrat judge. In all fairness to him, he has no choice.… He’s run by the Democrats.”

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[–] worldwidewave@lemmy.world 369 points 1 year ago (4 children)

For once, let there be consequences

[–] variaatio@sopuli.xyz 116 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Yeah. That is text book contempt of court, you can throw people in jail or give a fine for that.

edit: Like that is the whole point of the gag order. Stop talking about this or face consequences upon insisting on continuing. Without the face consequences part the gag order is meaningless plea for good behavior. You can do that personally just with "would you please not talk about this" by the judge. When one is issuing gag the whole point is "we don't believe you keep mouth shut on your own accord so we have to enforce it with pain of punishment".

[–] oddspinnaker@lemm.ee 67 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I would love to see him in jail for this, but hear me out: I want to see him lose everything in New York first… and he didn’t actually break the gag order. Which makes me want to gag saying it, but here we are.

Trump’s strategy his entire life has been trying to find ways to flout the rules and make money. He thinks he’s “clever” by not paying people he owes and constantly fucking people over; that he’s a good businessman despite all the failures and obvious fraud.

The gag order specifically states that Trump can’t talk about the Judge’s staff. So he goes around that by going back to attacking the judge himself and the Letitia James… who aren’t covered by any gag order because they’re public officials, not court staff. Trump is once again just toeing the line of what could get him in actual trouble. He is genuinely a piece of shit.

All that being said, keep in mind that that the overall punishment is currently happening. It may not be Trump in jail, ever, because he’s a turd no one can seem to flush. But just, for a second, imagine a New York without the word Trump plastered on it. It will eat him alive for the rest of his life. And that’s not all that’s happening to him; I don’t think the rest of his life is going to be super fun for him. He seems miserable.

The dude desperately wanted to be accepted by New York’s elite; his dad owned shitty buildings in Queens (I think, someone can correct me if I’m wrong) so when Donald made it to Manhattan — where the ultra-wealthy live — it was huge for his ego. He’s been riding that ever since, except that high society still knows he’s dumb trash. His insecurity shows in how he acts, what he says, and how he talks about everything being so luxurious. He’s desperate to be accepted by the old world elite, but they despise him.

And now they’re scrubbing his entire legacy from New York. Not because they hate him, but because he’s very obviously a fraud. I don’t know if there could be a more direct rebuke to his actual “life’s work.” They’re erasing him.

Edited a typo

[–] theragu40@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This was satisfying to read.

[–] oddspinnaker@lemm.ee 29 points 1 year ago

Thank you!

I could keep going, I am here for Trump’s slow miserable downfall. I want him to definitely not be in politics ever again, but I’m currently enjoying watching him get his ass handed to him. Over and over again.

He’s still facing lots of felonies too. Imagine having to keep going to court, and you’re being photographed all slouching next to the only attorneys who will work with you.

Not good lawyers, either. He made a choice in 2020 to try to stay in power by any means necessary, which meant aligning himself with Rudy Giuliani and a bunch of other “crazies,” which is literally what Mike Pompeo called them. After that, lawyers wouldn’t go near him, which is why that group is kind of the last Trump lawyers you heard a ton of detail about. Now they change all the time because no one with a name will work with him. Not only does he have several huge cases coming up, he can’t even get good lawyers.

He already lost this case, that’s why he’s so upset. And he might be coming to terms with the next year or more of his life sitting in court and being told what to do. It’s gotta be kind of a slap in the face. AND to have to go to New York to do it, which he hates now.

If he doesn’t spend the rest of his life looking miserable in court, he will look miserable honking into a microphone, or next to his very obviously miserable wife. Without good lighting he looks like the melting guy from the end of Robocop.

I want to watch him be miserable until he dies, and all of this has to be complete hell for a narcissist like him.

[–] TechyDad@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

You're spot on. And what's worse (for Trump), is that he wouldn't even get the proceeds from sales of the properties. If he was forced to sell all the properties and was allowed to keep the money, it would at least add to his bank account total. That's something he values even more than being loved by the NY elites.

But no, he wouldn't keep the proceeds and he might actually be fined hundreds of millions of dollars on top of all this. The "Trump is a genius billionaire business man" part of his ego has been seriously wounded and is rapidly deflating.

Now if only Florida weren't in his pocket, they could access Mar-A-Lago's value at $1 billion for tax purposes. After all, that's what Trump said it was worth and he must be telling the truth, right?

[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 14 points 1 year ago

I can see it now.

The judge taking away the phone from Trump and smashing it with a hammer. Only for Trump to summon a new phone from his pocket. Then the judge smashing that phone as well, only for Trump to keep summoning new phones ad infinitum as the judge keeps smashing them like some sort of Bugs Bunny cartoon.

[–] Schadrach@lemmy.sdf.org 12 points 1 year ago

Like that is the whole point of the gag order. Stop talking about this or face consequences upon insisting on continuing. Without the face consequences part the gag order is meaningless plea for good behavior.

He very carefully tiptoed around the gag order though. The order was to not talk about X, so he talked about Y and Z that were related to, but not included in X. Because he's going to rant about the case in whatever way he technically can, because that's what Trump does. Trump couldn't stop talking in public for 5 minutes on a bet, he has the verbal version of IBS.

[–] pete_the_cat@lemmy.world 57 points 1 year ago

He'd have a full-blown meltdown. It'd be glorious.

[–] Pratai@lemmy.ca 34 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Narrator: there were no consequences.

If I could see a single consequence for anything he's done beyond the inconvenience of having to appear in court to continue denying he's done anything wrong prior to the 2024 election, it would make me so happy.

[–] Grant_M@lemmy.ca 172 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Has there ever been a whiny crybaby like this guy before?

[–] zeppo@lemmy.world 123 points 1 year ago (3 children)

He’s the biggest victim-player in the entire world. Sure is odd how his fans think he’s ultra-masculine just because he’s also an overconfident bully.

[–] LarryTheMatador@sh.itjust.works 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)
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[–] b00m@kbin.social 14 points 1 year ago

They also think his complete disregard and sexual misconduct towards women is super masculine

[–] nucleative@lemmy.world 40 points 1 year ago

Usually mankind doesn't give them a platform... but yeah of course there a lot of people who's lives run on blaming others.

[–] TechyDad@lemmy.world 32 points 1 year ago (2 children)

He's the whiniest. People come up to him. Big, strong men with tears in their eyes. They say "Sir, you whine more than anyone else!"

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[–] pixxelkick@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Alex Jones pretty much pulled the same stunt and we all saw how well that played out for him

[–] bibliotectress@lemmy.world 58 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Kinda fine so far? As of a couple of weeks ago, he still hadn't paid a dime to any of the Sandy Hook families because he declared bankruptcy. He's still spending a bunch of money and still doing Info Wars. It'll probably catch up to him eventually? I hope? https://apnews.com/article/alex-jones-sandy-hook-shooting-bankruptcy-34192bd7d89ed786f64580682f6ea89e

[–] SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's wild how gentle the courts are with the rich and powerful doing absolutely abhorrent shit on massive scales

But find a joint roach on a poor person unfortunate enough to not have light skin, and they're near instantly thrown into jail for years and years

I don't know how anybody can not think that the justice system is broken

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[–] Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Considering he openly admitted that he was going to hide his money in offshore accounts so the victims won't get it, he's still spouting conspiracy nonsense on infowars, and has maintained exactly the same lifestyle he had before, I'd say it went pretty well for him.

People severely overestimate the impact that these cases have had against people like Alex Jones and Steve Bannon. They may have had some bumps in the road, and a bunch of lawyers made a bunch of money. But in the end, these guys are still able to keep on keeping on.

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[–] FrostbyteIX@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Elon Musk kinda comes to mind, but Trump shits all over what Musk has done....

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[–] fosforus@sopuli.xyz 54 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

I wish I could hear from the republican side a reasoning why apparently nobody in their side has the balls to prosecute this obviously criminal person. It's crazy how far from truth we have become in all sides of the fence. I hope humanity survives to properly analyze the reasons how it came to this.

[–] Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world 49 points 1 year ago (9 children)

How it came to this does not require deep analysis. Unchecked conservatism naturally leads to fascism. This has been the case throughout history.

The conservatism in the Democrat party is slightly checked by the progressives, but the Republicans have done nothing at all to check the conservatism in their party. So, now they are a fascist party. Simple.

Conservatism is a plague of oppression and death. It always has been

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[–] MossyFeathers@pawb.social 51 points 1 year ago (27 children)

I don't know if it'd be considered legal under the constitution, but someone needs to issue a blanket gag order that basically says he's not allowed to say anything to the public, directly or indirectly, until after his trials are over. Otherwise he's going to keep finding loopholes that allow him to get past the gag order.

[–] Nougat@kbin.social 57 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

That would be a First Amendment violation, because it would also prohibit legal speech. The only way he's not able to reach the public is if he's in jail.

If he goes to jail - a justifiable sentence for continually violating gag orders - his minions will call that a First Amendment "Deep State" thing. And they might not be far from the truth.

It's going to be really bad, the more he threatens people. It's going to even worse if he goes to jail.

Edit: I wanted to add, "The only way he stops sending his threats is if he dies," but that's not even true.

If he dies of natural causes, or an accident, or by murder - doesn't matter. His followers will blame their enemies, and they will act. There is no way this all ends with anything but violence. The only question is when, and how much.

[–] Piecemakers3Dprints@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Thing is... they're gonna do what pumped up hate-fueled idiots always do, no matter how much factual reality differs from their oh-so-sacred claims. It doesn't matter if this asshat lands in jail or at the bottom of an empty elevator shaft. They're going to erupt in violence and will need to be put down in kind.

Just, yank the fuckin' bandaid already, get this over with, FFS. Waiting doesn't make it better for anyone.

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[–] pixxelkick@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The question is this: Sometimes its pretty solid to issue repeated gag orders (in front of the watching jury), and everyday have to drag the defendant up and once again talk about how they violated the gag order in spirit and have to get even further sanctioned... while the whole jury sits and watches it.

Everytime it happens the jury becomes further pitted against the asshole who is wasting their time.

[–] philomory@lemm.ee 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah but there’s no jury in the New York civil fraud case. It’s just the judge, and he’s already ruled against Trump (on the most important claim, there are others), the remaining trial is just to see what the damages will be (and to determine the status of the other claims).

[–] pixxelkick@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (9 children)

Ah, thats right.

Well, in that case its extra going to be a bad hand for Trump, I guess.

Everytime the Judge extends him an olive branch to shut the fuck up and Trump proceeds to double down on his rhetoric, I imagine the Judge is bumping up the amount owed he has in his head already as the trial continues.

Like it's absolutely wild when you have this judge as the sole delegate as to just how hard you are going to get dinged, and you decide "ah yeah lets talk shit about this person"

Thats... not going to go well at all... lol

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[–] Betazed@lemmy.sdf.org 36 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I'm utterly unsurprised. The man is incapable of keeping his big mouth shut.

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[–] jayrhacker@kbin.social 25 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is the judge not a member of the court staff?

[–] athos77@kbin.social 28 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I haven't been able to find the exact text of the order. When speaking about it, the judge kept referencing "members of my court staff" and a reasonable argument could be made that that did not include the actual judge.

[–] stormtrooper@sopuli.xyz 13 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Let’s just hope the judge can clamp down on Trump over all this. Also when I normally say “don’t threaten anybody in my family” most people wouldn’t misunderstand it as “but you can threaten me, totally fine” but I wouldn’t be surprised if trump asked his staff who he could lash out at while staying within the gag order and this is what he came up with.

[–] thessnake03@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

if trump asked his staff who he could lash out at

Like he asks anyone those type of things. He's just Leroy Jenkins his tweets and let's people sort it out after the fact

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[–] plz1@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago (2 children)

So is this when he gets locked up for contempt of court? What consequences does he face for violating the gag order? If nothing, it's just business as usual...

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[–] UraniumBlazer@lemm.ee 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Dictators just love shooting themselves in the head, don't they

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[–] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 20 points 1 year ago

Isn't the judge part of court staff? Which he just discussed publicly?

[–] catfish@programming.dev 18 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The cornered coward will lash out at everyone and no doubt would back and suggest/support an armed civilian conflict if it meant delaying his inevitable upcoming demise

[–] psmgx@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

to paraphrase a Russian training manual: the end state of a useful idiot is to burn them down in a way to cause maximum damage or confusion

causing another US civil war has been a foreign intelligence goal for years, and trump is dumb and evil enough to do it for them

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[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago

Throw him in the clink.

[–] snausagesinablanket@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What about Hillary's email server? 😂

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