Alvin Bragg lays down the law against Donald Trump in contempt hearing
In spite of all the media hype to the contrary, Donald Trump has a long and fairly consistent history of cowering in the face of gag orders. He usually abides by a gag order, but then says something inappropriate that doesn’t violate the gag order, in order to distract everyone from the fact that he’s sheepishly obeying the gag order.
That’s why it was such a big deal when Trump made a point of violating the gag order in his criminal trial just before it got underway. It’s not clear whether Trump slipped up or merely succumbed to frustration, but either way he handed prosecutor Alvin Bragg something he can use against Trump.
To that end, Bragg has now made a filing asking the judge to fine Trump for his existing gag order violation, and – more importantly – inform Trump that he’ll be locked up for thirty days the next time he violates it. As Palmer Report has long explained, punishment for something like a gag order is done incrementally. So this kind of incremental punishment for Trump would indeed be in line with what any other defendant would face.
Because Judge Merchan set the contempt hearing for next week, it’ll be interesting to see if Trump goes back to obeying the gag order in the meantime. Another violation this week could indeed get him locked up by the time we reach the hearing. Like we said, Trump tends to cower in these situations. But he has been unraveling in exasperated fashion of late, so it’s possible he will indeed get himself locked up before he’s even convicted.
