Prosecutors stop short of seeking jail time for Trump — but say he’s ‘angling’ for it
Prosecutors in Donald Trump's hush money trial said the former president violated a gag order 10 times, but they did not seek jail time as a sanction.
During a Tuesday morning hearing, Assistant District Attorney Chris Conroy explained how Trump had attacked jurors, prospective jurors, and potential witnesses.
“What happened here is precisely what this order was designed to prevent, and the defendant doesn't care,” Conroy explained. “We are not yet seeking an incarceratory penalty, yet the defendant seems to be angling for that."
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Trump's attorney, Todd Blanche, appeared to be defiant.
"Just to set the record very straight and clear: Pres. Trump does, in fact, know what the gag order allows him to do and not allow him to do," Blanche told New York Justice Juan Merchan.
It was not clear when Merchan would rule on the violations.
Insider describes ‘stunning’ moment judge made Trump ‘meekly’ sit down like a ‘little boy’
Donald Trump hasn't listened to anyone telling him to sit down since he was sent to boarding school, but that streak ended with Judge Juan Merchan the other day, according to a man who was in the room at the time that it happened.
During an appearance on MSNBC, columnist and longtime Washington insider Jonathan Alter set the scene for what happened when Merchan instructed Trump to have a seat. It has been reported that Trump was "fuming" after being made to sit like a dog would.
The host asked Alter how the event might affect Trump's "psyche."
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"In the final minutes of the trial on Friday as Donald Trump was standing to leave the courtroom, the judge firmly told Donald Trump, 'Sir, can you please have a seat?' That moment has come to represent the stripping of control from a man who used to be the most powerful person in the United States, some could argue in the world. How could you -- how does this impact Donald Trump's psyche?" she asked Alter.
"Well, first of all, I was in the courtroom when it happened and it was a stunning, dramatic moment," he said. "You know, you have a former president of the United States who since the time he was a little boy never listen to anything -- anyone about anything. He was sent to military academy for being disobedient. Ever since, he has never sat down when someone told him to. In this case, he had to. He sat down meekly, like the obedient little boy he never was, and it was quite striking and I think it symbolizes that he is not the most powerful person in that courtroom."
"That honor," accord to Alter, "belongs to his honor, Judge Juan Merchan, who the country is becoming increasingly familiar with."
"And he is going to make Donald Trump face the music."
