Thread by @rgoodlaw

On this day in history:

A former president of the United States was held to be in Criminal Contempt for "willful disobedience of a court's lawful mandate" by attacking witnesses and jurors in a criminal proceeding.

Court's finding based on beyond a reasonable doubt.

1/

2/ Justice Merchan's well-reasoned, balanced opinion has two additional important notes.

First, he not only warns the Defendant, Mr. Trump, about jail time for future violations. He explains this may be required because fines ($1k per violation) won't be effective in this case.

3/ As part of his balanced opinion, Justice Merchan appears to call out Michael Cohen (and perhaps Stormy Daniels).

The judge explains their use of the gag order to publicly go after Trump while he cannot respond may result in judge excluding them from the order's protections⬇️

4/ Justice Merchan's 8-page Decision and Order on the People's Motion for Contempt can be found here:

justsecurity.org/wp-content/upl…

5/5 A backgrounder on how the NY State law works for gag orders, violations, and available punishment.⤵️

from @NormEisen @KFAlegal @AndrewWarrenFL @JNKGoodman & @SivenWatt

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justsecurity.org/94878/why-trum…

@NormEisen @KFAlegal @AndrewWarrenFL @JNKGoodman @SivenWatt Addendum

From Backgrounder on "criminal contempt" and NY law:

"Criminal contempt proceedings under the Judiciary Code 'are neither civil nor criminal. They are sui generis special proceedings to coerce future obedience or punish past disobedience.'"
justsecurity.org/94878/why-trum…