'Send a message to him': Ex-prosecutor calls for judges to be harsher on Trump

With Former President Donald Trump testing the patience of the judges presiding over his civil and criminal trials where gag orders have been imposed and already flouted twice -- former prosecutor Shan Wu contends the small sum sanctions so far are proving soft, and he thinks they should be much more punitive.

Wu writes in the Daily Beast that Trump's trial judges "need to send a message to him and his supporters" that when it comes to gag orders that are meant to muzzle everyone, including defendant Trump, that they prevent him from "spewing dangerous invective" and that they "actually have teeth."

Wu points to how New York state Judge Arthur Engoron, who is ruling in Trump's fraud case in Manhattan, has already hit the 45th president with fines of $5,000 and then $10,000 for the second that he claims "cannot even be charitably called 'slaps on the wrist' for someone with Trump’s wealth."

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"Make no mistake, Judge Engoron was pissed off at Trump for again trying to attack Engoron’s law clerk," according to Wu's column.

Trump found himself in hot water for posting an image of the court clerk from his DonaldJTrump.com website that called her the “girlfriend” of Sen. Chuck Schumer.

Trump’s lawyers argued it was merely an “oversight.”

Then Trump tangled with Engoron over an avail with reporters waxing about how the judge in his case was biased and “with a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside him. Perhaps even much more partisan than he is."

The excuse this time from Trump camp was that he trying to aim his daggers at his former fixer Michael Cohen, not the clerk.

But the critical thing for Wu is that he concerned that the sums tallying up for Trump's gag order ignorance aren't doing enough to get him to pipe down and can be raised by his followers with a couple instant clicks.

"With all due respect to Judge Engoron, I can’t help but wonder how much worse for the next offense—maybe $20,000," Wu asks." At that rate, the amount of money Trump is likely fundraising off of Engoron’s sanctions will end up dwarfing the sanctions themselves."

Wu also mentions how this same kindergarten timeout behavior is trickling into the Washington D.C. case where Judge Tanya Chutkan put in place a gag order making it off-limits to slander the special counsel as well as court staff and any witnesses or the substance of their testimony.

Wu writes that this was sufficient until it was rescinded, writing: "Chutkan’s order was a model of legal clarity and an admirable stand against the authoritarian leanings of Trump and his followers."

She then continues:

"But rather than letting the order stand while Trump appealed it, Chutkan stayed it to allow Trump time to appeal it."

After some efforts by prosecutor Jack Smith to get keep the gag order in place, Wu wonders about the judge's soft stance.

"Again, with all due respect to Judge Chutkan, did she really think Trump was going to quiet down while his lawyers appealed her ruling," he writes. "The effect of her self-imposed stay allowed Trump to continue to do the very damage she sought to end—damage that cannot be undone."