Former President Donald Trump received a $5,000 fine on Friday for violating the gag order put in place by Judge Arthur Engoron to protect his staff and his courtroom’s proceedings.

$5000. What bullshit.

    • OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      It doesn’t mean every fine will be $5k, it’s a warning. The judge is saying it’s a serious gag order with consequences, $5k is probably the average fine for first violations.

      There was an open question about what the judge could do about violations of the gag order, it’s just impossible that an ex President goes to jail for violations of a gag order…I’d argue he’s not going regardless, but 100% not going for this. So we have an answer, there will be fines.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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        1 year ago

        If this is the sort of fine he’s going to get, he’ll violate it as often as he can. So this is either bait, or this judge is a fucking idiot.

        • tburkhol@lemmy.world
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          Crimes punished by fines only apply to poor people.

          But if the judge imposes a fine that would be meaningful to a “billionaire,” then he feeds the right-wing narrative of being on a vendetta against Trump. That’s an issue with all the prosecutions, and doubtless part of the reason he seems to get such kid-glove treatment.

        • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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          It’s not the sort of fine he will get. It’s the fine he’s getting for a first offense for a minor violation (this was something existing since before the gag that was left up).

          It’s a shot across the bow to show that the weapon is loaded and the judge will use it.

      • thepianistfroggollum@lemmynsfw.com
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        Why is it impossible for an ex president to go to jail for contempt of court? He’s just a citizen, now, and a citizen would have their bail revoked.

        • OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee
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          It’s not literally legally impossible, but the logistics of dealing with Secret Service protection for someone in prison make it extremely difficult, plus it’s obviously unprecedented to put a former president in jail, and the added complication of it being the primary competition to the sitting president in the next election.

          There are a lot of reasons a judge would want to avoid prison, specifically. And the system is set up such that if there are circumstances where there’s a good reason to avoid prison for a certain person, there are alternative punishments like fines or house arrest.

        • variaatio@sopuli.xyz
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          But verbal warning is different thing as to a legal ruling and actual punishment action, actual real consequences and not just a strongly worded letter. Yeah 5k is meaningless for him, but it demonstrates punishment clauses can be used. Thinking is “this should make him/his lawyers read rest of the punishment scale and that should deter him”.

          If it doesn’t, stronger punishments will be applied.

          • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            My point is that this is piddling and should have been the first or second step, not seventh. At this rate we’re about 200 more incidents away from house arrest.

    • stolid_agnostic@lemmy.ml
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      It’s symbolic at this point. That number will go up and eventually jail will come into the picture. We know that Trump can’t help himself, so this is going to escalate pretty quickly in front of us.

      • Igloojoe@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Eventually jail… No it wont. No faith in the courts to do what is needed.

        • stolid_agnostic@lemmy.ml
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          Contempt of court can easily land you in jail and that is time that would never be counted towards your eventual sentence. Rather, it is punishment for pissing off a judge, which is always a bad idea. Judges are basically gods and can do anything the hell they want as long as it is within the laws and standard regulations.

          The Chicago 7 is an example. The judge was personally biased and actually threw a defense lawyer into jail under contempt charges then made the defendant appear without representation. Judge eventually put away half a dozen people for months at a time under the excuse of contempt:

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Seven

          ETA: The judge in that case was such an asshat that all convictions of all persons were overturned by the court of appeals. But, it didn’t stop him from ruining lives.

          • Igloojoe@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            I wasnt saying the charge wont. I’m saying that no judge would throw Trump in jail. Because of the political shitshow it would cause.

    • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
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      It’s marginally less meaningless than the consequences he has faced so far, which have been literally nothing.

      I’ll take a fine over nothing. Keep it coming.

    • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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      Especially since he won’t even pay it like all his bills, which somehow rich people get away with regularly

  • Gamingdexter@lemmy.ml
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    5k? What a loser, that Judge should throw it up to 200k and state if it happens again it will include jail time. Why does everyone walk on eggshells with these idiots, I don’t care who it is, fine them and jail them

    • FrostyTheDoo@lemmy.world
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      Unfortunately Trump’s best and only defense right now is that this is all a deep state witch hunt and he’s being treated unfairly by the justice system. The way to not let that defense gain any traction is to make it painfully obvious to any observer that they are handling Trump as a defendant with kid gloves.

        • essteeyou@lemmy.world
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          What’s the average punishment for what he did? Perhaps it’s a $5k fine. I don’t have a clue.

          • Soulg@lemmy.world
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            Pretty much my thought. We can say it’s nothing because he’s rich, and to him it is nothing, but to the majority of people 5k is absolutely devastating

      • shalafi@lemmy.world
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        I cannot fathom how people don’t get this. Look, if I told you what I would do to every human being that planned and participated on 01/06, I would get perma banned. I got more PTSD from that day than from literally having my ass kicked and robbed on Christmas Eve. I’m more than a leetle mad.

        But we gotta handle this very damned carefully. Yes, that means being more than fair to Trump. We’re going for the slam dunk conviction of the century, arguably the last two centuries.

        I want this man in a concrete and steel box, with zero wiggle room to whine about unfairness.

      • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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        painfully obvious to any observer

        That’s the problem right there: Trumpers aren’t “observing” any of this, they’re just absorbing what (little) the right-wing media are saying about all of this. And the right-wing media will say it’s a witch hunt regardless of what’s actually going on. Worrying about what the right-wing media are going to say about anything is a losing game.

  • foggy@lemmy.world
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    Give. Him. A. Cell.

    You know how many angsty rich white male teens are frustrated Daddy’s money hasn’t gotten them any pussy yet that are just so fucking inspired?

    They don’t see that $5000 and think trump did wrong. They see it and think that with enough money, there is no wrong.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
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      Oh don’t worry, further violations “will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions.” So… you know… $6000.

  • TheOneWithTheHair@lemmy.world
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    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/judge-engoron-explains-dollar-amount-behind-trump-s-gag-order-fine/ar-AA1iAM0h

    Engoron told the former president and his attorneys in court Friday that he wanted to “make clear that Mr. Trump is responsible for the large machine, even if it is a large machine,” reported CNBC. However, in his written motion, the judge said that a fine of $5,000—a small financial burden for Trump—was reasonable given that it was a “first time violation.”

    “Make no mistake,” Engoron added, “Future violations, whether intentional or unintentional will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions, which may include, but are not limited to, steeper financial penalties, holding Donald Trump in contempt of court, and possibly imprisoning him pursuant to New York Judiciary Law.”

    • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
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      Giving this fucker a warning at this stage is absolutely ridiculous. He’s done so much damage and just continues to get treated like some special snowflake.

      It’s fucked up.

  • elrik@lemmy.world
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    It should have been $5,000 a day until he apologized to the staff named in his attack.

  • Case@lemmynsfw.com
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    If the punishment is a fine, it just means there is a cost to the activity. It isn’t actually illegal, you just can’t afford it.

  • Rapidcreek@reddthat.com
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    A) it is a pitiful amount

    B) he will get his rubes to pay it

    No incentive to STFU.

    Tired of the courts twisting themselves into pretzels to accommodate this creep.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
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    His fanboys will fall head over heels to pay this for their idol. He will basically make money with that move.