‘Boxing himself in’: Former US attorney warns judge will look ‘feckless’ if he doesn’t jail Trump over gag order

Former United States Attorney Brett Tolman warned on Monday that the judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s trial has placed himself in a situation where he must jail the former president if he violates the gag order against him again.

Judge Juan Merchan on Monday found Trump violated the gag order for the 10th time, warning next time he would consider imposing a jail sentence on the former president. Merchan must jail Trump if he does not want to appear weak while emboldening the former president by not following through on his threat, Tolman said on “America’s Newsroom.”

WATCH:

“The judge is boxing himself in his own corner at this point,” Tolman said. “He’s going to be the one that is going to threaten and he is going to fine this limited fine and he’s doing it with the underlying order being unconstitutional. How does anybody that’s in the position of Donald Trump, who knows it’s an unconstitutional order, how does he, with all of his ability to communicate to the American people, how does he not make comments, how does he not talk about this case? He knows it’s going to be an issue on appeal. But it’s the judge who’s now put himself in this position and he’s going to have to put him in jail because he’s now threatened it. Otherwise, he looks feckless and the president gets stronger.”

Judge Finds Trump Violated Gag Order For 10th Time@DailyCaller https://t.co/AgAetkyB9i

— Katelynn Richardson (@katesrichardson) May 6, 2024

“Going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” the judge said.

Merchan recently held Trump in contempt for nine breaches of the order, fining him $9,000 and warning future violations could lead to incarceration.

The gag order bars Trump from making statements regarding witnesses, prosecutors other than the district attorney, court staff, and jurors, as well as family members of the staff, district attorney, or judge.

CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston in April suggested Trump should spend some time in jail, but also warned of potential strife and fallout for President Joe Biden if the judge decides to lock him up.

“I don’t think we know, but it really does put us between this rock and a hard place, right?” Preston said. “And the rock is like, listen, he has done something that’s wrong and if it was any of us sitting at this table, would we be, you know, held to a higher standard? Would we have to go, you know, into that holding cell? I think that if he does go into this hole, if that were to happen, first of all, I think you would probably see civil unrest across the country, certainly in some cities. That’s one. And two, politically, if I’m the Biden campaign, I don’t want to necessarily see him in jail because that’s just going to get people more inflamed and more fired up. I don’t think that’s necessarily great for the country. Even if we are bending the rules for someone.”

All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline, and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!