Former President Donald Trump is unlikely to be incarcerated following a hearing on alleged violations of a gag order, according to Tom Dupree, former principal deputy assistant attorney general. The charges against Trump involve 34 felony counts related to the alleged falsification of business records concerning payments made to Stormy Daniels, a porn star, in connection with an alleged affair during the 2016 presidential election.
The gag order prohibits Trump from making statements about witnesses, prosecutors other than the district attorney, court staff, their families, and potential jurors. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg claims that Trump has violated this order, but Dupree expressed his belief on “The Lead With Jake Tapper” that Trump is unlikely to be sentenced to jail time.
“The judge has specified lists basically, of people who are possible targets for insult and people who are off limits and the prosecutors say, Trump has just run roughshod over those limits,” Dupree told host Jake Tapper. “I think the judge is going to take the prosecutors’ allegations pretty seriously. The prosecutors have put forward a bunch of tweets, some that Trump originally posted himself, some that he reposted from, others that prosecutors say violated the gag order. I think this is a judge who is very sensitive to the need to preserve the integrity of this proceeding. That means protecting witnesses from attacks, protecting jurors from attacks, and that he may well fine Trump.”
“I don‘t think he’s going to go so far as to try to throw Trump in jail or anything like that. He may have stern language, he may have a warning, he may impose a nominal fine, but I think you‘ll make clear to former President Trump that if this behavior continues he’s going to up the punishment,” Dupree added.
Bragg recently urged Merchan to caution Trump that he may be subject to a 30-day jail sentence if he breaches the gag order in the future, as stated in a court document. The prosecutor further contended that Trump has already defied the gag order and recommended that the judge find him in contempt.
