Ex-Trump campaign chief rebuked by judge for public comments
Back in the day, gag orders had some force. A judge could prevent a defendant, his lawyers, or even the press from discussing details of a case. Since the development of the internet, however, gag orders are essentially meaningless if the defendant has half a brain. (Which admittedly may not apply to Manafort.) All Manafort would have to do would be to recruit right-wing bloggers to say what he wants said. It'll get out there. If he were to use people from outside the USA as his surrogates, the judge would be completely powerless to control their speech, but even if they are Americans, it's not really possible for the judge to place a gag order on the entire internet.
"If he were to use people from outside the USA as his surrogates, the judge would be completely powerless to control their speech" Not really. The judge has exactly the same power to control any remarks published in the United States whether the speech originates from Americans or from foreign nationals abroad. He (she in this case) would only be limited in their ability to control the FOREIGN publication of those remarks. And even there, a number of bi-lateral treaties would permit the enforcement of US court gag orders in foreign countries.
ReplyDeleteTo the contrary. He has no power at all over posts originating in Russia. He can't prevent them from publishing, and he can't punish them if they do. And Russia is where Manafort has his friends.
DeleteMoreover, there is nothing he can do to prevent people from originating posts in Russia using VK.com, the Russian social media site where the American right wingers hang, and there is nothing he can do to get the threads deleted once they exist. Realistically, there is no more "foreign" when it comes to the internet, there is only the internet itself, and there's not a damned thing a judge can do about that.
There's not even much he can do about posts to Facebook and Twitter, unless those companies are informed of the gag order in advance and specifically ordered to delete any posts on that subject (which would be almost impossible for them to do instantly, before any damage is done). While a judge can eventually shut down posts from Facebook or Twitter after the fact, by the time the wheels grind, the damage will have been done, and there is nothing he can do to punish the posters as long as they originate in Russia.
Frankly, there's really not a damned thing the judge can do to prevent leaks to Russian sources unless he can prove that Manafort himself actually leaked something he was told to keep quiet, which is all but impossible to do, because any leak could also come from other people as well.
"there is nothing he can do to punish the posters as long as they originate in Russia." Sorry, can't agree. No Russian-origin posting can appear on any US computer screen without the participation of US ISPs and web companies, none of whom want to be accomplices to a crime. And there liability for violating the gag order does not begin at the moment Facebook, say, is notified of the potential violation. That's the "safe harbour" rule for things like copyright violations. For violating court orders, Facebook has no defense. If they were re-distributing images of child abuse, they'd be liable from the start. They'd be accomplices. No need to be notified. Same here. Russians can't send internet messages to Americans located in the US without US accomplices.
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