Former President Donald Trump is facing a court-imposed gag order — again, which this time emerged in the election interference case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith at the federal level. The demands that presiding Judge Tanya Chutkan is imposing will block the former president from public attacks on individuals including Smith and witnesses — though enforcement will be a different story, should Trump violate the order.
And considering the precedent of the former president’s incessant public commentary, it might be safe to just expect Trump to break the court’s new rules. Former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade joined this week with those pushing the potential option of jailing Trump. Would an everyday defendant using the rhetoric seen from Trump, which has been tied already to threats of violence and actual violence (just ask the injured officers), still be as free as Trump?
“Of course, the real test will come if and when Trump violates the order,” McQuade told The Washington Post this Monday afternoon. “Judge Chutkan said she will impose sanctions for violations, but if Trump does not respond to monetary sanctions, she has to be prepared to cancel his bond and jail him at some point.” And yet again, there’s a precedent for Trump not taking financial threats that seriously and for the impact of financial penalties falling short of a substantial setback for the targeted Trump entity. Trump business entities went on trial for charges of tax misconduct from the local district attorney in Manhattan, and those proceedings ended in part with the prosecutor calling observers’ attention to the opportunity for policymakers to increase the financial penalties that are possible.
The Trump team has predictably turned to political arguments in responding to the gag order from Chutkan, but it’s not routine politics — based just on the foundational historical record — for Trump to encourage what could become violent action against those challenging him in court cases. “Just because the defendant is running a political campaign does not allow him to do whatever he wants,” Chutkan said.
