After ex-president Donald Trump allegedly violated the court-imposed gag order four times over the last three days, Prosecutor Chris Conroy filed yet another order to show cause to hold him in contempt on Thursday morning, before David Pecker’s testimony began.
“Before Pecker takes stand again, DA raises another order to show cause for contempt re 4 violations in last 3 days in Trump 2) public comments outside courtroom and 1) on cable and 1) in interview to PA station about Cohen, Merchan, jury (“95% democrat”),” LA Times senior legal affairs Columnist Harry Litman reported.
CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen reported from the courthouse:
BREAKING: another order to show cause to hold Trump in contempt
The third one–for four more violations in last three days
Apr. 22 in press conf. outside court: “Cohen is a lawyer…wasn’t very good in his representation…” 1/x
And there is more. Another Cohen slam. A hit on the jury “that was picked so fast…largely Democrats. Calling Cohen “a convicted liar…he did some pretty bad things….” And the kicker
This morning, “Pecker has been very nice, a nice guy.” DA: Message to Pecker.
Judge looking at order to show cause as Pecker takes stand, jury is being brought in
Very serious allegations but the judge will deal with them later–keeping trial moving in the meantime
While Trump continues to attack the jury and witness Michael Cohen, his relative praise of former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker has raised eyebrows.
Is Trump sending a message to Pecker to keep it cute, is he offering him something in exchange for testimony of a certain strain, or is this a reaction to the knowledge that Pecker was reportedly keeping a safe full of documents detailing scandals and payoffs involving Donald Trump, and might have a lot more he could add that would be even more damaging.
“In Pecker’s betrayal of Trump and Cohen, court documents revealed that the Enquirer kept a vault filled with documents detailing hush-money payments and other stories that could hurt Trump’s reputation,” The Cut reported in 2018.
Whatever is motivating Trump to continue to behave as if the gag order doesn’t apply to him, he is acting as if he is confident that the law does not apply to him. There is no other defendant who would be allowed to continue behaving this way, sending mob-style messages to witnesses and jurors and a judge.
Trump and his lawyers have previously referred to his alleged violations as political speech, but there is nothing political about these comments, even though Trump used the word Democrats in an attempt to impugn the entire jury. That is because by “Democrats” Trump means anyone who is dealing with facts, anyone who opposes criminal activity, and anyone who is not a blind devotee of him.
Trump is unable to be silent while others discuss him. He cannot allow a narrative to be set about him that he isn’t stage-managing. Perhaps the threat of jail will sink in for him, but I suspect he knows as well as most of us how unlikely it is that he will be held to any normal standard.
Norm Eisen currently has a book on Amazon titled “Trying Trump.”
President Biden is literally rebuilding America, while prosecutors are building a case that could convict Donald Trump.
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