House Republicans may be humoring Trump at his trial, but it’s no laughing matter 

Lately, a lot of people who should know better have been saying a lot of really stupid things about Donald Trump’s trial.

They’re ridiculous, in part because they’re nonsense, but they’re still dangerous. House Speaker Mike Johnson appears at Trump’s hush money trial attack In the process, the players and the players’ families claimed that “among other atrocities here, the judge’s own daughter is making millions of dollars running online fundraisers for the Democratic Party.”

Johnson is a lawyer and not stupid. He knows this isn’t actually true. Judge Machan’s daughter is a political consultant, and while she’s definitely helping raise money during this campaign, she’s not making “millions” of dollars from it.

He also knows that no matter what Machan’s daughter does, there is no reason to taint the judge’s own impartiality and objectivity.

First, Trump has already done some things. failed effort This is to get Judge Machan removed from the case, and the conflict of interest issue has already been fully litigated. The other thing is that Machan’s daughter is a completely independent adult in her mid-30s. Therefore, her activities do not reflect on the judge.Ivanka Trump used to raise money Cory Booker I don’t see how Donald Trump would be dragged for that, right?

But these statements are also stupid, as they could very well land Donald Trump in jail for contempt. The former president has angry about the gag order since the trial began. His anger only grew during his testimony. stormy daniels and michael coen. Also, strangely, he is furious because none of his friends are willing to come to court to support him. family only Eric comes to court regularly. There is not even a proper protest outside the courthouse.

So in recent weeks, President Trump put pressure on Various Republican politicians have come forward and asked them to support him. And in recent days, quite a few people have shown up, including Speaker of the House Johnson and Sens. Rick Scott and J.D. Vance.All these people made statements attack Witnesses, jurors and district attorney’s office officials said almost everything else Trump himself could not have said had he not violated a gag order and been jailed for contempt.

However, it was Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who was generally not considered to be among the candidates. the sharpest of knives In the Senate drawer, the cat was let out of the bag. announcement “Hopefully, every day more senators and congressmen stand up on behalf of the president and break this gag order so we can go out. That’s part of the reason we did it. “So that we can voice our opinions for the president,” Trump said. ”

I asked Governor and Vice Presidential candidate Doug Burgum directly. was denied It is said that he was asked to attack Judge Machan’s daughter, but of course you don’t have to take his word for it. The idea that all these people spontaneously showed up and started repeating the same topics is ridiculous.

In fact, this whole thing sounds a lot like Donald Trump’s idea of ​​being smart. But if this ultimately goes before Judge Machan, he won’t think of it that way.

Merchants gag order It prohibits President Trump from “making public statements or directing others about his attorneys, staff, courts, or the district attorney’s family.” Not only is this unwise, but if Marchand concludes that he concocted a plan to circumvent President Trump’s orders by getting others to say things that Trump cannot say, there will be no second chance. Machan will send him directly to prison for contempt.

Fortunately for President Trump, Judge Marchand is reluctant to consider contempt unless requested by prosecutors. But after the events of the past few days, prosecutors will think long and hard about filing new motions, especially if attacks by President Trump’s surrogates incite death threats or worse. It’s going to happen. This all could go very badly for Donald Trump very quickly.

There’s a certain kind of horrifying amusement in watching Trump frame Judge Marchand’s gag order. However, respecting courts and the judicial system is a significant challenge. After the 2020 election, when President Trump assumed full power Election refusal modethought one Republican official. “What’s the downside to humoring him?” As it turned out, the drawbacks were: January 6th This is the most serious attack on American democracy since the Civil War, and deep-rooted resentment and mistrust threaten to make the 2024 presidential election even more dangerous than the last.

Republican officials at Mr. Trump’s trial see humor in his attacks on the judicial system, similar to his attacks on the election. Apparently, Donald Trump believes that every election he loses must be fraudulent, just as he believes every court case he loses must be corrupt. is. However, President Trump has received all available due process and is being treated fairly and transparently. If, after all this, a jury finds him guilty, it will be a case of the American justice system working, not some political conspiracy.

At least Johnson knows this, and it is shameful and dangerous to pretend otherwise.

chris tuax He is a founding member of the Rule of Law Association and an appellate attorney.