Contemptible

Trump fundraising off a threat from the judge

Credit: Getty Images

It’s time. The presumptive Republican nominee for president needs to be sent to jail. For the 10th time during his Manhattan election interference trial, Donald Trump has been found in contempt of court. But, as was the case last week, he was only fined … $1000 for his latest transgression. That is a grand total of $10,000 in fines — not even a rounding error in Trumpworld.

There is no precedent here. No former president before Trump has ever stood trial, much less a former president who is running for reelection. The judge is limited in what he can do, but financial punishment clearly isn’t working, and Trump is treating our justice system like a joke.

Enough.

No American is above the law, but Donald Trump is defying the judge and is all but begging to be locked up. Perhaps Judge Juan Merchan should accommodate him. If you or I were flouting the judge’s instructions by routinely violating his gag order, we would have been incarcerated long ago.

That’s exactly what Trump wants, and everyone knows it. He wants to use his incarceration to drum up more support. But it might be a miscalculation. If he assumes that word of his confinement would send legions into the streets, he’d better hope the numbers are better than those of the Trump fanatics outside the courthouse. Some days there haven’t been enough MAGA supporters to field a basketball team.  

“The last thing I want to do is put you in jail. You are the former president of the United States and possibly the next president as well,” Judge Juan Merchan told Trump today. The judge added he wanted to protect the dignity of the justice system. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is already fundraising off the threat of incarceration.  

Trump’s latest violation came because he claimed on a radio show that the jury is 95 percent Democrats. He has verbally attacked the judge, the judge’s daughter, prosecutors, and witnesses. From the bench Monday morning, the judge addressed Trump directly. “The magnitude of this decision is not lost on me, but at the end of the day, I have a job to do. So as much as I don’t want to impose a jail sanction, I want you to understand that I will if necessary and appropriate.” 

Trump could be confined to a holding cell in the courthouse overnight or sent to Rikers Island, New York City’s largest jail, where he would enjoy the ambiance with more than 10,000 fellow inmates and his Secret Service detail.  

Today prosecutors told the court to expect another two weeks of testimony before they rest. What are the odds of Trump staying quiet for that long? Somewhere between no way and not a chance.  

Would locking up Trump for a night or two change him? Probably not. But for the rest of us, it would confirm a tenet of our democracy and that the words carved into the Supreme Court building, “Equal Justice Under Law,” actually mean something.

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Dan