Prosecutors made the unusual decision this week to remain almost entirely mum about the order in which they planned to call their first witnesses in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial in New York.
Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor working on behalf of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, said Friday evening he would let Trump’s attorneys know the name of their first witness on Sunday night, the day before opening arguments in the case are set to begin, according to a report from the courtroom. Trump’s defense team had asked for the names of the first three witnesses that prosecutors would call.
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“Mr. Trump has been tweeting about the witnesses," Steinglass told Judge Juan Merchan. "We’re not telling them who the witnesses are.”
Blanche then asked Merchan if he could have the information if he promised Trump would not post on social media about the witnesses, to which Merchan replied that he did not believe Blanche could make such a vow.
I get the feeling they’re trying to avoid martyrdom. He needs to go to prison for the big things, not on technicalities.
I don’t know, witness intimidation is pretty damn big. And a pretty damn big admission of guilt.
The thing is, he wouldn’t do it openly. He’d pass the names to an assistant who would make some anonymous posts online and let it go from there. Sure, maybe that can be proven in another trial, but that’s too far away to help the witnesses or to avoid slowing this case
He is too stupid to keep his mouth shut. The problem is the courts are too cowardly to enforce their own gag orders.
“Please stop tweeting about the clerks and family members of the court.” [He immediately tweets about the clerks and family members.] “Oh, ok, please have a 10 day extension and we’ll give you a far lesser bond.”
he wouldn’t do it openly
…where have you been for the past 7 years plus change?
He does MOST of his crimes openly and the rest he publicly brags about later!
There’s literally NO way he’d ever try to make his witness tampering discreet. That would be like expecting Guy Fieri to cook without ketchup 😛
People only need to go to jail or prison for crimes. Witness intimidation is a crime.
The thing is where will you house the orange asshole’s Secret Service detail in a prison?
That’s gotta be a huge drawback for any judge to send him to prison during a trial.
I think many consider witness intimidation to be a big thing. Threatening judges/advocates/… is big, doxing their families as a form of intimidation goes beyond even that. They should have never let them (not just Trump, but also others who were making threats or encouraging others to make threats) get away with it.
That it gets a pass as “not bad enough” is indicative of how far the USA civil society has fallen.
He needs to not be treated like a fucking king because he isn’t one. Presidents are just people who happen to be elected, and shouldn’t get treated like royalty.
Worrying about making him a martyr is counterproductive.
