Donald Trump may have crossed a major line on Wednesday when he attacked the judge in his New York fraud case, according to several legal experts.
Trump, who has been known to name and shame political opponents, judges, prosecutors, and more, said on Wednesday that "justice" was needed as he lashed out against the judge who recently ruled that Trump committed fraud by routinely lying to banks about how much his assets were worth.
"WE NEED JUSTICE IN OUR COUNTRY!" Trump said, saying that the "political hack judge" wrongly valued Trump's Mar-a-Lago property at $18 million.
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The former president went on to say the judge "must be stopped."
"I have had very unfair judges since entering politics, but nobody has been as unhinged as this guy," Trump said on Wednesday.
These comments may have crossed a serious line, former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance said that same day.
"If a defendant in one of my cases had done this, I don't believe he'd just get a pass from the courts, and certainly not from the prosecutor," Vance said. "Trump has a pattern of disregard for the danger he places the community in."
Former Mueller investigation prosecutor Andrew Weissmann also chimed in, adding that, "I fear it is just a matter of time before the worst comes to pass: and Trump's enablers as well as Trump will bear moral if not legal responsibility."
Conservative attorney and noted anti-Trump activist George Conway feels another judge, the one who is overseeing his bail, might have to step in to stop the purported threats.
"At some point, it’s going to become difficult if not impossible for Judge Chutkan to avoid the conclusion that 'no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure … the safety of … other person[s] and the community.' 18 U.S.C. § 3142(e)(1)."
