'Stakes are too high': How no gag order on Trump would 'harm' witnesses in 'most extreme way'
01 October 2023
Justice Matters host Glenn Kirshner spoke with MSNBC's Katie Phang Sunday about the potential "harm" of allowing ex-President Donald Trump to "run his mouth" on social media as he awaits his upcoming trials.
Kirshner and Phang's conversation comes days after United States Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith issued a request for U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to place a gag order on ex-President Donald Trump amid the federal government's case prosecuting the MAGA hopeful's alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Phang said, "I gotta push back for a second. I'm gonna take the popular opinion that's only popular on Truth Social and Trump world. What is the harm of letting him run his mouth and letting him post the stupidity he does? I acknowledge there is violence afoot, I do know that people do violent actions at the behest of Donald Trump. But as you have always well pointed out, Glenn, the guy does himself in, whether it's sworn deposition testimony, whether it's Truth Social, interviews, rallies, I mean, he was never gonna get a sympathetic D.C. jury pool anyway. So, if Judge Chutkan doesn't enter that limited gag order, that limited narrow ability for him to do it, what's the harm?"
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Kirshner replied, "The harm is it endangers witnesses in the most extreme way imaginable. We all saw that horrific post by Donald Trump falsely claiming that General Mark Milley had engaged in treason and urging that he should be executed. That was not lost on Jack Smith and company because here's one sentence from the new pleading that they just filed and their quest to convince Judge Chutkan to issue a gag order. In essence, they say, 'No other criminal defendant would be permitted to issue public statements insinuating that a known witness in this case should be executed. This defendant, Donald Trump, should not be permitted either.' The stakes are too high when you have somebody as reckless and dangerous as Donald Trump sending out a not-so-subtle call to his most reckless supporters that 'these are the enemies, the General Milleys and any other witness who seeks to hold me accountable for my crimes. Therefore, you know what to do, you did it on January 6th. I'm counting on you to do it again.' That's the harm here by doing nothing."
Watch the video below or at this link.
READ MORE: Why Jack Smith had 'no choice' but to issue gag order against Trump: experts