Neal Katyal made a really good point last night

[senseandsensibility]

He said that cheato (a former POTUS for God's sake), was found guilty of contempt of court yesterday and that was not even the headline. Everyone just yawned. Of course it was mentioned, but it should have been the focus. It was the real news of the day.

Another example of this freak being normalized. This attitude by the corporate media does influence the public, whether we want to admit it or not.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. SC is gonna put him in the WH...he will never go to jail, etc .

If for some reason they fail at this, they will make sure good people like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and others are unable to do anything productive.

Harming us is their goal. But hey, we had to hold our nose to vote for Hillary and make sure EVERYBODY KNEW we were because she would not guarantee Medicare for All

[onecaliberal]

9. The AG should have charged him the day after he took office. We are here because nothing was done for two years.

Right this minute there are anti government congressmen/women working to overthrow the government everyday while the justice department fiddles.

[Marcuse]

10. The Trump DOJ (Sessions, Barr or the toilet guy) prosecuted Cohen but not Individual One. Neither did Garland.

EDIT: It was Matthew Whittaker who patented the Masculine Toilet.

[unblock]

2. Especially in comparison to how they handled the Hillary email smear

Anyone here recall the media telling us how the Hilary email thing is no big deal unless maybe if she gets convicted and even then only maybe?

Ha!

They insisted the investigation into a non-crime resulting in a grand total of zero indictments was massively important, and they sunk Hillary's campaign over it.

But here they are propping Donnie up after rape and defamation findings, 4 trials in the works and 88 indictments. Meh, boring news, ho hum.

[senseandsensibility]

3. Exactly

They bury the lead (he was in contempt of court!) with hundreds of excuses and predictions about how none of it matters. So obvious when you realize what they are doing.

[Silent Type]

4. Heck, it was about all that was on last night on CNN and MSNBC.

[Wednesdays]

7. Cable Newz. What was on the airwaves news channels?

[Silent Type]

8. Local news had it and it's the whole 2nd page of local paper.

[birdographer]

5. Not only the contempt of court,

but Tiedrich says " but here’s a fun fact: by being held in contempt of court in the New York trial, Donny is now technically in violation of the bail agreements of his other three trials."

But of course nothing will be done about it.

[senseandsensibility]

6. Yes,the story is that he was held in contempt

and he is not being treated the same as others. Everything should be framed around that.

[onenote]

12. It won't be framed as that because it isn't true.

The US Code is absolutely clear on this. Section 3418 sets the bar very high for a federal judge to revoke bail and in Trump's case the conditions for revoking bail haven't been met.

See post #11 for a more detailed explanation.

[birdographer]

13. You're right, thanks

I shouldn't assume he has checked his sources...

[onenote]

14. I get frustrated when the "experts" are too lazy to check the law and end up misleading the public as a result.

It's rare that they approach issues the way a thoughtful judge, like Judge Chutkan or Judge Merchan would.

[onenote]

11. "Technically" in violation. Maybe. Or Maybe not. But not subject to having bail revoked.

I love all these experts that don't bother to discuss the actual statutory and case law that applies when someone is accused of violating a bail agreement, particularly bail granted by a federal court.

First, whether the contempt finding in the New York state court violates the condition of some or all of Trump's bail agreements is an unsettled question. To the extent those agreements condition bail on Trump not committing a crime while on bail, there is the issue of whether a violation of Judiciary Law 750, which is the provision Trump was found to have violated, is a "crime," as contrasted with a violation of Penal Law 251, which is a separate provision that makes criminal contempt a misdemeanor, which Trump was not charged with violating. The case law and legal scholars have indicated that the former is not a crime, while the latter is. Even if the distinction is deemed not to be relevant, and its enough that Trump broke a "law," judges have broad discretion in treating breaches of laws and violations of bail agreements. For example, one can break a law by littering, but no judge would treat that as an actionable violation of a bail agreement. And while contempt obviously is more serious than littering, under NY law, a violation of Judiciary Law 750 is not characterized as either a felony or a misdemeanor.

Finally, and most important, as a matter of federal statutory law -- 18 USC 3418 -- the bar for revoking a bail agreement is set pretty high. Specifically, that provision expressly provides that in order to revoke bail, a federal court judge must find "that there is no condition or combination of conditions of release that will assure that the person will not flee or pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community" or that "the person is unlikely to abide by any condition or combination of conditions of release."

Given that Judge Merchan, the judge that handed down the contempt order, hasn't yet revoked Trump's bail, no federal judge is going to do so based on Merchan's contempt order.

Now, if Tiedrich, or Kirschner or any of the other experts so blithely declaring that anyone else in Trump's shoes would have had their bail revoked wants to address the statutory issues and relevant case law, I'm listening.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

15. As Judge Merchan finds Trump in contempt, what happens now?

Donald Trump is now the first former president in American history to be held in criminal contempt. The question now is what he'll do in response.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/judge-merchan-finds-trump-contempt-happens-now-rcna150085

Local prosecutors urged the judge overseeing the case to hold Trump in contempt. As NBC News reported, that’s precisely what happened.

The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money case on Tuesday held the former president in criminal contempt over a series of posts on Truth Social that he said violated a gag order barring any attacks on jurors and witnesses. ... Judge Juan Merchan ruled Trump in contempt for nine violations of his gag order, with a fine of $1,000 for each instance.

As my MSNBC colleague Jordan Rubin explained, the jurist “also ordered Trump to remove the seven offending posts from his Truth Social account and the two offending posts from his campaign website by 2:15 p.m. Tuesday.”

Team Trump did, in fact, comply ahead of the deadline......

We’ll now see whether the presumptive GOP nominee intends to back up this rhetorical chest-thumping with deliberate violations of a judicial gag order. I have a hunch Trump will find it far easier to simply comply.

As for the bigger picture, it’s worth pausing to emphasize that while the former president’s jury trial is a long way from being over, it’s now fair to say that Trump has already suffered an important defeat. It’s also history in the making: The Republican is now the first former president in American history to be held in criminal contempt.

[orangecrush]

16. K&R

[SupportSanity]

17. If it had been contempt of court and a $500 million dollar fine, that would've gotten my attention. Absolutely!

But contempt of court and a slap on the wrist is a big yawn. No matter if he set another (bad) record or not.

[Farmer-Rick]

23. He was found guilty of contempt of court

But there are restrictions in a criminal trial on how much you can fine for contempt of court. Unlike in civil cases where there are more options for the judge.

"In his written order, Merchan said that criminal contempt is punishable by a maximum fine of $1,000, and jail time of up to 30 days. The judge also warned Trump that the court will not tolerate "continued willful violations" of the gag order and he would consider "incarceratory punishment" for future violations."

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-jail-gag-order-judge-merchan-trial-1895948

I wonder if they will put their pet monster in jail?

[SupportSanity]

26. Contempt and Jail - that will also get my attention.

Contempt without punishment is as good as impeachment without conviction.

These findings only work on people with shame.

Magats are shame free. The usual punishments have no affect.

[LymphocyteLover]

18. the media (and public?) has trump outrage fatigue

let's hope the outrage comes back, because this is all fucking outrageous

[Katcat]

19. Never thought about it

But I have just realized that I went I want news I don’t visit the news sites first anymore. Now I go directly to DU, DK, RS and a few others.
I can read the news myself or I can sit and listen to some “news” person reading someone else’s version of the news.

[Katcat]

20. Don't know about y'all

But I have just realized that I when I want news I don’t visit the news sites first anymore. Now I go directly to DU, DK, RS and a few others.
I can read the news myself or I can sit and listen to some “news” person reading someone else’s version of the news.

[elocs]

21. I hope this turns out as poorly for Trump as so many of the "experts" are predicting it will,

but I'm prepared to be disappointed.

[flying_wahini]

22. Trump and his gang are double dog daring the Judge to jail him. They think that it will spark the war they crave.

In reality tho, Trump would be a washed up hot mess if they just jailed him for 3 days.
Can you imagine his meltdown mode within a couple of days?

I wish he would jail him.

[msfiddlestix]

24. I think it's safe to say, most everyone here sings that chorus line with great trepidation and deep frustration

I have noticed one or perhaps two du'ers do not share our concerns Katyal's observations , butthey are the elite outliers and content with media's status quo in the enabling and therefor promoting the wanna be fascist psychopath's campaign to return to the White House.

[young_at_heart]

25. The media loves him

It seems all they care about is ratings.....how about they start caring about the country they live in!!

[republianmushroom]

27. Remember, "no one is above the law". Chuckle , Chuckle

39 months and counting (includes foot dragging)

[Martin68]

28. It was a headline in both the Washington Post and the NYT.