D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan re-instated the gag order on former President Donald Trump this week, prompting the former president to rant furiously against her on his Truth Social platform, blasting her as a "true hater."
But things could actually get a lot worse for Trump if Chutkan decides to treat him less like a presidential candidate and more like any other defendant, warned former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade on MSNBC Monday.
"Sort this out for me, if you can," said anchor Katy Tur.
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"First, I think it's really important to understand that the judge is absolutely in her legal rights to impose a gag order on Donald Trump," said McQuade. "In fact, if she wanted to, she could completely gag him from talking about the case whatsoever. As the manager of the case, she has a duty to protect the witnesses, the parties, and the fair administration of justice. This order gives him a lot of outs. He can still criticize the Biden administration; he just can't talk about the parties, court staff, witnesses, and jurors. And so he's going to push this as much as he can, and the real question is whether she's willing to back it up with penalties."
"Has she a little bit of runway to do so, now that it's happened in New York twice?" asked Tur, referring to a pair of fines Trump has received for violating gag orders in a state civil fraud trial there.
"I think so," said McQuade. "But it's going to be interesting, you know, I think you often see this when there are sanctions and a progressive discipline in New York. We saw first a $5,000 penalty, and then a $10,000 penalty and promised it will escalate if it continues. We'll likely see the same thing in the federal case with monetary penalties escalating. If he violates the orders with impunity, the ultimate card is to jail him for contempt of court. that's a tricky thing. I don't think anyone wants to jail a candidate for president, even if he deserves it, because the public wants to hear what a candidate for president wants to say."
Watch the video below or at the link here.
Barbara McQuade says Judge Chutkan could give Trump much worsewww.youtube.com
