We have a report from the Washington Post on this morning’s hearing on the protective order. No paywall.
U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan said a number of interesting things in the hearing. For example, the “existence of a political campaign” will not have a bearing on her decisions. Trump’s running for president should not interfere with the “orderly administration of justice.” His campaign schedule will have to work around the trial schedule, not the other way around.
Also, she said that while Trump does have a right to freedom of speech, that right is not absolute,
The judge did warn that despite the limits of the protective order, all of Trump’s behavior and statements are covered by his conditions of release. So regardless of whether his statements are made from disclosures derived from discovery or not, if they have the affect of interfering with the administration of justice or intimidating or harassing witnesses, the judge will be “scrutinizing them very carefully.”
I’ll add to this post if I hear anything more.
Update: Politico says,
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan warned Donald Trump and his attorney Friday that repeated “inflammatory” statements about his latest criminal prosecution would force her to speed his trial on charges related to his bid to subvert the 2020 election.
“I caution you and your client to take special care in your public statements about this case,” Chutkan told Trump lawyer John Lauro during a hearing. “I will take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings.”
Did you hear that, Trump?
Update: Here is the judge’s protective order. Look especially at item 10, about restrictions being put on Trump when he’s viewing Sensitive Materials.
The judge is putting a big temptation in Trump's face. Without specifically spelling out what he can and can't get away with. Trump prides himself in code talking and speech ambiguity, so it won't be long before Trump pushes the boundries. When he steps out of line, as he will, I hope the judge imposes a solution like Doug suggested. Just a short stay in the DC jail to help get his head right (focused).
Here is the judge's protective order. It spells things out pretty specifically.
Love the Cool Hand Luke ref – not sure who else got it.
I just love watching judges reminding accused criminals who is in charge and what the rules are.
Has anyone ever seen a picture of a head shrunken by cannibals – or, FSM forbid, the real thing?
The cannibals stitch the lips together at some point during the shrinking process.
The only thing tRUMP knows how to do in this life is run his his big, fat, bigoted, stupid, ignorant, sphincter-lookin' mouth!
tRUMP and his mouth are beyond orders to be silent.
They are beyond Scotch tape.
tRUMP and his mouth are beyond even well the strongest duct tape – or any glue.
But you can't stitch tRUMP's mouth up.
Why?
The problem is, while stitching lips together may work when you're shrinking heads, it can't work when the head keeps exploding all of the time.
Every time tRUMP reads a transcript from a witnesses, his fat orange head will explode!
Oh, this may be a lot fun!
Sure, this situation is very dangerous for our country.
But ya gotta look for any silver linings in the most dangerous of storm clouds!
At least that's how I'm looking at this!
Law and order vs. Cheat and Cahos. In MAGA land, any system can be manipulated and fixed. In the Big Lie Conspiracy to steal the election, there were multiple plans considered and implemented. In this case I would expect a multi-pronged approach to manipulate the process. At the end of round one the judge is still in control, but the contest is far from over.
I am not sure how many rounds Trump is good for at his age. His 'all offense' strategy leaves him open for damage in many forms and age is not on his side. As usual he will rely on low blows and other dirty fighting techniques to maintain an advantage.
I've worked this boxing motif as far as I wanted. I could have gone with a chess format, but with Trump it would be way too classy and cerebral. His forte has always favored the area between grey and criminal. Old dogs generally rely on their old tricks. Insanity plays are quite probable.
First observation: The judge warned Trump AND his lawyer about public statements.
Second thought: The judge drew a clear line between what IS in the public record (fair game for comments) and what's NOT out there.
Third Point: She's not gonna let Trump and his lawyer try the case on TV, IMO, even if they stick to the public record and/or just make stuff up, if the volume of comments in the media demonstrates a strategy of manipulating the outcome by doctoring public perception before the trial, that's not OK.
Fourth idea: It looks like Chutkin ruled that Trump running for POTUS is not a factor in the judicial world. I like that. Chutkin is gonna keep the trial fair – she's not even gonna factor in the election. It's not her job.
Penalties: She hinted that how Trump acts will affect the trial date she sets. That might (or might not) slow Trump down between now and the 28th of this month. If the judge moves up the trial date because Trump isn't following her orders, she creates the basis for an appeal. The lawyer(s) will say they were not prepared.
Understandably, the judge is not eager to threaten Trump with time in jail. I'm not sure she's considered how effective it would be. For most Americans, three days in jail is an extended "time out." Trump is used to destroying anyone who tries to set boundaries – and he usually succeeds. Three days with the riff-raff will panic Trump. (I was surprised how well I got along with fellow felons.)
Ultimately, this is gonna be a DC trial and Chutkan will decide the sentence.
The work of commenter Voter Frog to the Washington Post to a piece by Colbert King. Voter Frog wields a mighty pen.
@Bernie wrote: Much of the rest of the world, with the exception of dimwits, racists, oligarchs and right-wing dictators, seems to see all this clearly. But, 1/3 of American voters remain miraculously convinced that this 100%-selfish, emotional toddler will somehow deliver on all the issues that trouble them.
Teri Kanefield has a great post about this, The Authoritarian Personality, referencing the work of political psychologist Karen Stenner:
Read that last paragraph again: about 33% of any population in any culture have this personality trait. This is why authoritarianism is on the rise not just in America but worldwide. In other words, we’re stuck with them. The challenge for us is get these people away from the levers of power.
Our open society, with its 1st Amendment protections for speech are the main attack vector for disinformation campaigns seeking to mobilize this army of dimwits to capture the government for their own purposes.
Heather Cox Richardson touched on this recently:
On a lighter note, some pitch-perfect Alexandra Petri: The Supreme Court justice lifestyle is for me!
Some awesome news. Chris Hayes interviews a Federalist Society member, a lawyer who successfully used the Constitution’s Article 14 Section 3 (this prohibits people who participated in an insurrection from holding office) to remove a New Mexico state official. The case turned on the court recognizing that January 6 was an insurrection. This group is now going after TFG, and the interviewee explains their strategy.
I don't think you can overstate the degree that Trump is personally directing his defense in all the criminal cases. The developing report from witnesses in the courtroom (no cameras, so who knows?) is that Judge Chutkin put her head in her hands and rolled her eyes when Trump's lawyer tried to argue that Biden is behind the prosecutions to derail Trump's campaign. IMO, Lauro told Trump that accusations against Biden without strong evidence would be rejected in court. IMO, Trump said we make the argument because I'm a genius. So Lauro did and the judge demonstrated her disdain for groundless political grandstanding. Lauro veered away and Trump will push him to return to it.
Granted, it's early in the game but I don't see a defense – not in what Trump OR his hot-shot lawyer are saying in court and in the media. Trump was not charged with insurrection in order to eliminate a first-amendment defense. (Trump isn't being accused of provoking the J6 riot or being at fault for the violence that day.) Lauro is smart enough to know that the First Amendment defense Trump had prepared does not apply to the charges Smith brought, But Lauro is in step with Trump in media appearances on the First Amendment defense. And it will fail in court.
Trump got another suit in Georgia tossed. Again, this is Trump strategy. At least three times, Trump has filed in court to get Willis removed, the judge removed and the Special Grand Jury Report suppressed. He's been told he has no standing and if he did have standing, there's no evidence that Willis has done anything wrong, or the judge needs to recuse or the Grand Jury Report is improper. Trump is reportedly going to file again.
Trump is determined to make the GA case go away BEFORE he gets charged. Even Trump knows that once he's charged, it will be harder to put the toothpaste back in the tube.
Trump is running his own legal show. It's such a sh^t show that lawyers have walked rather than do Trump's bidding. They want to continue to practice law. I doubt Lauro will be around for the trial (When Lauro walks, Trump will say he automatically gets a three-month delay. I wonder if Lauro is in on that delay strategy now or if Trump will drive Lauro out as the trial date approaches.)
Trump can't protect the other parties named in a RICO indictment, which will happen next week in GA. If Trump was elected POTUS in '24, he could not spring them from a GA jail, and neither can the Governor of GA. When they are charged, there will be (maybe) a brief window when they can cut a deal if they give evidence of Trump's involvement. Any testimony in the GA trial can be used when Smith charges them in federal court.
Did Smith leave the co-conspirators unindicted and technically unidentified, to let the GA trial develop?
Trump is incompetent and he's running his show. That's good news for prosecutors and bad news for Trump.
IMO, Trump said we make the argument because I'm a genius.
Who knows? Trump might eventually win the day. If he believes firmly enough and follows the advice/example of the Little Engine That Could…"I know I can, I know I can." or maybe click his heels together three times during jury deliberation saying, There's no place like Mar-a Lago.