Judge Juan Merchan has found Trump in contempt of court and fined him $9,000 — $1,000 per violation of the terms of his gag order, the maximum authorized by New York law. He also noted those fines might not be large enough to influence Trump's behavior, and he threatened to jail him if he violates the order again. Is that threat credible? Ken says so.

Plus: witness testimony in Merchan's courtroom, another New York judge declines to reduce E. Jean Carroll's award, the Supreme Court hears oral argument about presidential immunity, Arizona announces a fake electors indictment, and Harvey Weinstein's New York convictions have been overturned.

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The trial has begun! Judge Juan Merchan seated 12 jurors and 6 alternates in three days of voir dire. We discuss the pace of jury selection and complicating factors (that strong opinions about this defendant are common and often expressed on social media), plus: Ken discusses his philosophy of choosing a jury as a defense lawyer, why it’s more of an art than a science, and how it will matter that this Manhattan jury is unusually highly educated.

We also discuss a question that, as we sent out this episode, remains before Judge Merchan — should Trump be held in contempt for his repeated public statements about witnesses and the jury, in spite of the gag order on him? And we talk about the theories of the case laid out in opening statements from the prosecution and the defense.

And amid all this, George Santos has clawed his way back into the news in a small way. Yay! Visit serioustrouble.show to sign up for our newsletter and find a transcript of this episode.

Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York has begun, with jury selection underway. Ken and I discuss Trump’s last-ditch efforts to get this trial delayed, and public support he has gotten from a surprising advocate: imprisoned ex-attorney Michael Avenatti, who phoned into MSNBC from his oceanfront Los Angeles home to say he thinks the case is seriously flawed. Meanwhile, in Florida, Judge Aileen Cannon did something we said she might: She declined to make any decisions about those jury instructions she asked attorneys a bunch of weird questions about. Smith is in a bind. We discuss why.

Plus: Incompetent ratfucker Jacob Wohl and his sidekick Jack Burkman are in trouble again. And actress Gina Carano (from Disney's "The Mandalorian") is a character on Serious Trouble for the first time this week.