I am not a lawyer, but my first thought is that you cannot pass a six figure (or more) fine for this kind of infraction. Even though Trump is starting to show a pattern of disregarding this specific case’s proceedings, the judge would have to start at a reasonable amount and go up from there. In this case, I searched for reasonable fines for violating a gag order and got $1000 to $10000. If he handed down a $500,000 fine then the media / right would go crazy questioning if this fine was justified by Trump’s actions. I think we all know that regardless of the sum (barring $100,000+ fines), Trump is gonna disregard the fine and do it again. But doing so gets Trump closer to actually being imprisoned (in theory). The actual threat of being imprisoned is far more likely to quiet Trump than a monetary fee. ‘Tis the life of the (comparatively) rich, monetary fines don’t have the same sticking power as for you and I.
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