Senior judge 'speculating' how a Trump prosecution in DC would work: report

A senior federal judge in Washington, D.C. speculated in open court about how a prosecution of former President Donald Trump in that jurisdiction could work, CBS News' Scott MacFarlane reported on Tuesday.

"A federal judge said something particularly provocative today," said MacFarlane. "It might have just been speculation. Might have been his musings. But he was unmistakeably noteworthy in his courtroom today."

"The judge is Paul Friedman, one of the senior judges here in Washington, who has handled other high-profile cases, including John Hinckley, the attempted assassin of former President Reagan," said MacFarlane. "Judge Friedman was sentencing Robert Sanford today. Sanford's a Capitol riot defendant from Delaware County, Pennsylvania ... he's a retired firefighter, who pleaded guilty, who the feds say threw a fire extinguisher at police on January 6th, and injured at least two officers in the process. Judge Friedman sentenced Sanford to 52 months in prison, but what he said just before issuing the sentence was uniquely noteworthy."

"He talked about the future, and the future risk, the need for future deterrence," said MacFarlane. "The judge said in so many words, 'There are still people who believe the election was rigged. There are still people who support Donald Trump, though not many showed up at the court in Manhattan," the judge said. Then he added, 'We'll see what happens here at this court when the Justice Department moves in a few months, I suspect.' Speculating about the possibility the former president could be prosecuted by the Justice Department right here in Washington, potentially in the next few months."

"A judge saying that in open court, speculative or otherwise, was unmistakeably noteworthy," said MacFarlane. "But I think here's what's critical. It paralleled another argument we heard today at sentencing. Retired U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, asking for a strict, stern sentence against Robert Sanford, told the judge, there are concerns about a recurrence of January 6th again if too much leniency is shown to the defendants. Saying among other things that in his mind, if the judge were to set Robert Sanford free, and Donald Trump called Sanford back to the Capitol, Sanford would go."

"As we get closer and closer to 2024, there is increasing talk about the risk of recurrence in 2024, among some people in the courthouse," concluded MacFarlane. "And today, there was a federal judge, in open court with reporters in the room, talking about a possible prosecution of Trump."

Watch the report below or at this link.