Legal expert flags Trump trial statement that 'comes closest to witness intimidation'
April 26, 2024
Former President Donald Trump's comments about his longtime ally and former National Enquirer head David Pecker are the most compelling case for witness intimidation, legal expert Lisa Rubin told MSNBC's Joy Reid on Friday's edition of "The ReidOut."
Pecker, who helped Trump in a "catch and kill" scheme to bury stories about his alleged affair with Playboy model Karen McDougal, has been the prosecution's first witness in the criminal hush money trial against Trump in Manhattan. The former president has not directly attacked Pecker — but, Rubin said, he has issued what could be interpreted as a threat to him.
All of this comes as Trump is waiting on a decision from Judge Juan Merchan on whether he his social media postings amount to contempt of court.
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"I'm not sure, Lisa, if he was talking about the people in this courtroom, but he's supposed to be under a gag order somewhat," said Reid. "He seems like he's violating it every day. I don't know if this thing about not putting Hillary Clinton in jail does it. Do you expect to hear something on the gag order next week?"
"I do," said Rubin. "We have a third alleged set of violations ... [Judge Merchan] has already held a hearing on the first two sets, which comprise ten alleged violations. There are now four more. The most recent comes the closest to witness intimidation. Because he's asked, what do you think of Pecker's testimony so far? I'm reading to you, he says 'he has been very nice. I mean, he's been very nice. A nice guy.' And about five minutes or less, David Pecker is going to walk into this room to continue testifying. The way prosecutors characterize it, it sounds benevolent — a nice guy, been my friend for decades — they said this is a message to pecker. Not 'you have been nice,' but 'be nice.' A message to others."
"Mob stuff," agreed Reid. "This is mob stuff."
Fellow panelist and former prosecutor Tristan Snell piped up. "I have my carrot, my stick. And in this case, it was the carrot. There's sort of an implied, if you're not nice..."
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