Georgia judge 'putting Trump in a box' -- but experts unsure he'll wind up in jail
August 22, 2023
Donald Trump agreed to a $200,000 bond and other release conditions much more restrictive than his co-defendants will endure, but panelists on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" agreed the court would have a hard time enforcing those rules.
The former president will surrender Thursday in Fulton County on racketeering and other charges related to his effort to overturn his election loss in Georgia, and he has been explicitly warned not to use social media to target his 18 co-defendants, 30 unindicted co-conspirators or other potential witnesses.
"What we know is that we didn't see those conditions imposed on any of the other co-defendants so far," said NBC News correspondent Ken Dilanian. "It was really striking. I mean, other judges in some of these other cases have verbally conveyed to Donald Trump or his lawyers that he shouldn't threaten or try to intimidate witnesses or potential jurors. This lays it out in black and white, in very clear terms. He's not allowed to threaten or intimidate co-defendants, witnesses, potential jurors or really anybody else, and specifically, it says, including by posts or re-posts of material that others have posted on social media. That language included really struck a lot of people as very explicit, putting Mr. Trump in a box."
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"Now the issue is, how does the judge enforce it?" he added. "People look at this and say, Donald Trump would love nothing more than to have a situation where a judge is bringing him down to Atlanta, this judge, and potentially seeking to jail him, because he'd just make another appeal to his supporters, raise more money and declare himself a First Amendment martyr. It'll be difficult for this judge and others in other cases to determine where the line is for Donald Trump's First Amendment rights as he is running for president, and tweets and other rhetoric that crosses the line into intimidation or threats. That's a tough situation. Most experts believe they're going to give him a lot of latitude."
The judge has several options to ensure Trump complies with the conditions of his release, according to former U.S. attorney Barbara McQuade, but it seems highly unlikely that the former president would be thrown in jail for violating any of those rules.
"The ultimate penalty, of course, would be to revoke the bond," McQuade said. "The prosecutors know what they're doing by negotiating the terms, they see what is happening in the other cases. In this case, he made a disparaging comment about the former lieutenant governor of Georgia. They're trying to stop that. I think it is going to be difficult for a judge to use the ultimate hammer, which is to revoke the bond and jail Donald Trump while awaiting trial, but I think Donald Trump doesn't want to mess around and find out because that would be such a devastating consequence."
"I agree that maybe he wants to be a martyr for the First Amendment, but he also very much wants, I think, his liberty," she added. "Being jailed in the Rice Street Jail while he awaits trial is certainly no picnic, so I think we'll see things that come close to the line. I think he will try to push a warning before he goes any further because it will be a difficult decision for a judge to revoke the bond. But if a judge is really doing his job, he is going to see that his job is to enforce the law and to manage this case, regardless of any political consequences that might come."
Watch the segment below or at this link.
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