Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner suggested that Judge Juan Merchan’s partial lifting of the gag order that he’d placed on Donald Trump during the former president’s hush money trial “may and probably will come back to bite” the presumptive GOP presidential nominee — and even possibly, ultimately, lead to his incarceration.
Merchan this week lifted the order barring Trump from talking about the witnesses and jurors in the case, for which he was convicted on all 34 charges and will be sentenced on July 11. Trump still can’t attack the prosecutors and court staff, though.
“Now, on the one hand, yes, that is very concerning because we fear for the witnesses and the jurors and others,” Kirschner acknowledged in the latest installment of his “Justice Matters” series that he shared on YouTube.
But it “really is in accordance with the law,” he explained, noting how Trump had been found guilty and the case is about to enter its sentencing phase.
Kirschner, however, said there could be a “silver lining.”
“How many of you think Donald Trump will begin posting and saying things about the witnesses that are harassing and intimidating and threatening and perhaps even violence-inducing?” he asked. “Yeah, me too.”
The potential danger that Trump poses to others will be a big factor in determining what sentence he receives, said Kirchner.
He continued, “If it took a gag order […] to keep Donald Trump from endangering witnesses, jurors, and others, and once those judicial restraints were lifted he went right back to doing it, if I’m one of the prosecutors on District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s Team, you can bet I’m putting that in my sentencing memorandum and I’m arguing at the time of sentencing, ‘Judge, what Donald Trump has made clear is the only time the danger he poses to others is reduced or can be controlled is when judicial restraint is controlling it.’”
A period behind bars could be the only way to restrain Trump, Kirschner added.
Watch Kirschner’s full analysis here:
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