'Insane': Trump lawyer blasted by MSNBC host for claiming right to attack court staff
Donald Trump was partially gagged in a court order Monday which forbade the former president from making attacks against the judge, prosecutors and their families.
Judge Tanya Chutkan approved the limited gag order on Trump, who regularly attacks those involved in the trial on social media and in his speeches. There was concern that he will also try to intimidate witnesses by attacking them on his social media accounts.
The argument in general was so absurd to MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace that she shouted it was "insane!"
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"Your restraint is impressive," she told Andrew Weissmann, the former senior prosecutor for Robert Mueller, as he joined her to debate the order. "It's insane! Donald Trump had a lawyer who argued in a courtroom that he should be allowed to threaten and intimidate and harass the family members of employees of a judge! And because we have to cover events on earth too, I feel like sometimes it's hard to just talk about how insane it is."
Weissmann explained that, from his observations, it seemed the judge is prioritizing protecting the witnesses more than anything.
"I think it's much more about making sure that there is not some lone wolf who is inspired by this rhetoric and takes action ...with respect to judges and their families," he explained. "Judges tend to be incredibly solicitous about witnesses and jurors in particular, to make sure that they are not in any way intimidated. When she came out after hearing everyone on both sides, that was clearly something that was paramount to her, and I think that's why you're seeing that."
He noted that the judge also rejected the argument that was made by Trump's defense counsel that people have a thick skin and, because they worked for the judge, they shouldn't be protected.
"She rejected that, and I think she wanted to take steps, because, like any judge, you do not want to have violence occur and think there is something more that could have been done," Weissmann explained.
He agreed that Trump would likely appeal.
See the conversation in the video below or at the link here.
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