If Trump Doesn't Get This Message ...
(Chutkan quotes from various news sources.)
In court today, Judge Chutkan sent a clear message to Trump. If he does not get this message, he'll find himself in deep trouble with a judge who made it clear that "I will do everything necessary to protect the integrity of these proceedings."
The judge's options include limiting Trump's speech with a protective order (done today), limiting his speech with a gag order, and imposing fines. An extreme measure would be to revoke his conditions of release 's and take him into custody. That would be extreme, but the judge has that power.
Donald Trump is not a free man. He is a criminal defendant subject to the rules of the court.
Additional comments from the judge that Trump would be well advised to heed include:
The former president has a right to free speech, but that right is “not absolute,” Chutkan said. “Mr. Trump, like every American, has a First Amendment right to free speech, but that right is not absolute. In a criminal case such as this one, the defendant’s free speech is subject to the rules.”
“The fact that he’s running a political campaign currently has to yield to the orderly administration of justice,” she said. “And if that means he has to limit what he says about witnesses in this case, that’s how it has to be.”
“He’s a criminal defendant,” Chutkan responded. “He’s going to have restrictions like every other criminal defendant.”
“He is a criminal defendant. He is going to have constraints the same as any defendant. This case is going to proceed in a normal order,” Chutkan said.
“I caution you and your client to take special care in your public statements about this case,” Chutkan said. “I will take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings.”
“You [Trump's attorney] are conflating what your client needs to do to defend himself and what he wants to do politically,” she told him. “And what your client does to defend himself has to happen in this courtroom, not on the internet.”
“It is a bedrock principle of the judicial process in this country,” she said, “that legal trials are not like elections, to be won through the use of meeting hall, the radio and newspaper. This case is no exception.”
“Even arguably ambiguous statements from parties or their counsel, if they can be reasonably interpreted to intimidate witnesses or to prejudice potential jurors, can threaten the process,” Chutkan added later. “The more a party makes inflammatory statements about this case which could taint the jury pool … the greater the urgency will be that we proceed to trial quickly.”
news.yahoo.com
