Whatever else you might say about former President Donald Trump, you’d have to agree that he gives as good as he gets.
Democrats have tried just about everything to bring down the former president. They invented a tale about Russian collusion, impeached him, called him a Nazi and, according to the Associated Press, indicted him on “91 felony counts in four criminal cases in Washington, New York, Florida, and Georgia.”
Now, a New York judge is threatening to put Trump in jail for not doing what he’s told, according to NBC News.
If that sound like overkill, it is. Everyone knows it, but nobody seems to be able to do anything about it. Though Trump has millions of ardent supporters, he stands alone before the judge.
And he’s still standing — for now.
Arthur Engoron — the presiding judge in Trump’s $250 million civil fraud trial in New York — said on Friday morning that Trump was guilty of posting “an untrue and disparaging post about my clerk” on his social media accounts.
Enogron spoke to Trump and “ordered him to remove the post immediately and he said he did take it down,” according to NBC. Engoron had imposed a limited gag order on Trump concerning the case in early October.
Of note, this is the same judge who “smiled like a game show host” for cameras as the trial got underway earlier this month.
It’s the same judge who reportedly “slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed ‘This is ridiculous’ as Trump’s lawyers got deep into the weeds with Mazars USA partner David Bender, whom they accused of not answering their questions.”
Will Trump get a fair trial under Judge Engoron?
Yes: 1% (35 Votes)
No: 99% (2613 Votes)
There’s no love lost between Enogron and Trump. Because of this, Enogron seems to be looking for a reason — any reason, frankly — to punish Trump in a case Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley has said ultimately looks good for Trump because New York Attorney General Letitia James ran her campaign on “bagging Trump”.
Never mind the fact that “there is no indication that any money was lost” in the supposed fraud, as Fox noted.
“Despite this order,” Enogron said in court on Friday, “Last night I learned the offending post was never removed from a website. This is a blatant violation of the gag order. I made it clear [that] failure to comply will result in serious sanctions.”
According to NBC, Engoron claimed the post “remained on Trump’s 2024 campaign website for 17 days and was removed late Thursday night after the court emailed him.”
“Incendiary untruths can and have led to serious physical harm,” Engoron continued. “I will now allow the defendant to explain why this should not end up with serious sanctions or I could possibly imprison him.”
Trump suggested in the post that Engoron’s clerk had been involved in an inappropriate relationship with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. Schumer denied it, so, as far as Engoron is concerned, the case is closed.
Trump had also accused Engoron of being a “far-left Democrat” in public statements and campaign emails, according to NBC.
Sticks and stones.
According to Fortune, Engoron is a Democrat who has “described himself as a free-speech absolutist” who actively protested the Vietnam war when he was younger.
I presume Engoron’s still a a leftist but his stance on free speech is not so absolute these days. I wonder where he stands on Israel?
Trump defense attorney Chris Kise responded to Engoron’s admonitions with, “Based on my understanding this was truly inadvertent,” according to NBC.
“The Truth Social post was taken down when the court asked,” Kise said. “Truth Social was taken down and Trump never made any more comments about court staff, but it appears no one took it down on the campaign website. It is unfortunate and I apologize on behalf of my client.”
The judge agreed to take Trump’s lawyer’s remarks “under advisement.” At the end of the day, however, he made it clear that Trump is responsible for what happens in his entire campaign.
Engoron warned, “But I want to be clear that Donald Trump is still responsible for the large machine even if it’s a large machine,” according to PBS Newshour.
It can’t be said often enough that Trump is not only the former-President of the United States, he is also running for president in 2024 and is dominating the Republicans primaries by all indicators.
The timing in charging Trump with 91 felonies in four states is obviously political. Weaponizing gag orders and threatening to put him in jail to shut him up is outrageous — even if he does at times have a big mouth.
The left’s totalitarian message is clear, “If we can do this to Trump with impunity, we can do this to anyone. This means we can do it to you. Comply or else.”
Meanwhile, everyone seems to be standing around watching the events unfold as if it was a Sunday hanging in the Old West.
What the left doesn’t realize is a large portion of the audience sees this political lynching for what it is.
And they won’t forget.
