Andrew Weissman was shocked by the judge's warnings to Trump during his arraignment today after Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya was stern with her first two warnings: Don't commit a crime and don't tamper with the jury.
After Donald Trump's arraignment was complete, Chris Hayes took up that issue, saying he'd never heard of those two requirements being made of defendants before, and wondered if it was normal language in a judge's admonishments.
"Usually the standard condition that a judge emphasizes ... is I thought it was gonna be that you have to show up at each court appearance," Weissman replied. "That is the most important thing. That is what bail is for is that you will show up in court."
"When I heard that the standard condition and the most important thing is do not commit a crime followed up by do not tamper with a juror?" Weissman said incredulously. "My reaction was I was a prosecutor for 21 years, I was a defense lawyer for five years. I have NEVER heard that."
It sounds to me like an admonition a judge would give a defendant appearing on charges of organized crime. Something they would say to a mobbed-up loser who is facing three indictments with more to come.
For all of Trump's false bravado and claims of being Republican Jesus, the reality is that he's a criminal and a bully who will not be able to resist jury tampering, so they probably just should have locked him up right now.
