Butina update: She will remain jailed ahead of trial because the judge thinks she poses a flight risk, and the judge also imposed a gag order. The parties will no longer be allowed to make statements about the evidence or merits of the case.
The judge credited the gov. for walking back the claims about Butina's willingness to trade sex for a position with a political org. but said Butina's attorneys are right - the allegations received a lot of attention and damaged her reputation.
The judge scolded the gov. saying it took her only 5 minutes to review the communications the gov. based the claim on to tell they were jokes. "It was apparent on their face," she said, adding that she was dismayed.
The judge cautioned the gov. against starting a case with such allegations, saying it makes it hard to conduct a fair trial given the limited jury pool in D.C. On the other hand, she said one of Butina's defense attorneys spends a lot of time talking to the press.
"I do find that your comments have crossed the line," the judge said, noting that the attorney has identified a potential witness in the case via comments given to press. She also admonished the attorney over his court filings in the case, which she called "inflammatory."
The judge said the "colorful" language in the filings seems to be not just directed at the court (but to the media, perhaps?). The next status conference in the case will be Nov. 13. Before then the defense said they plan to file a motion to dismiss.
