Dina’s Docket: Weekly Trump Recap (4/5/24)

Friday, April 5, 2024

Another week, another round of updates in the many ongoing Trump trials. (The nonpartisan nonprofit JUST SECURITY has a fabulous master calendar of key dates in Trump’s trials.)

NEW YORK

Judge Merchan expanded his gag order against Trump in the hush money criminal case out of New York. This means that Trump can no longer attack or harass the family members of the judge or prosecution without having fines or possible imprisonment. The judge made it clear he is taking this very seriously.

For reference, we know Trump has violated his gag orders in his civil trials and received modest fines. However, the difference here is this is a criminal trial and criminal judges don't mess around. This is essentially a criminal defendant trying to attack the prosecution and the judge overseeing their case. You would think for a “law and order” party, there would be an outcry about this, but there isn't.

Essentially, you can’t make it so that other criminal defendants that come after Trump have this precedent and this kind of leeway of being able to attack the public servants overseeing their case. Not only that, but the judge made it clear that the jurors who are eventually seated in this case shouldn't be afraid that their loved ones will be attacked either.

Also in New York, Trump posted his $175 million bond on Monday. But the problem is, according to Attorney General Letitia James, it may not comply with New York law. The company that did the bonding did not file things such as the power of attorney or financial statement…and the bond needs to be reliable and compliant with the law.

GEORGIA

In Georgia, Judge McAfee denied Trump's motion to dismiss the case based on First Amendment grounds.

FLORIDA

In Florida, Judge Cannon ruled in favor of the government and is not dismissing the case based on Trump's argument that he could keep the documents under the Presidential Records Act. However, she did it in such a way that she's essentially kicking this can down the road, and that means it will further delay the start of this trial.

The question is, Trump is basically saying that he could just mark any of these documents as “personal” under the Presidential Records Act and keep it even if it's in his bathroom…despite the fact that these documents are actually covered by the Espionage Act. Again, the judge ruled in the government's favor — so Trump cannot appeal the order — but she did it in such a way as to slow down the case significantly.

ARIZONA

A potential new legal case against Trump is heating up in Arizona. The Arizona attorney general has subpoenaed GOP members relating to the fake elector scheme there. As a reminder, Trump and his team tried to get fake electors from many states to come to Congress and vote for him rather than Biden.

Have questions about what’s going on in Trump’s trials? Email me at press@askdinadoll.com or drop a comment below. Make sure to follow me on social media where I post recap videos every Friday along with a ton of other legal news analysis: @askdinadoll 

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