Trump’s total lack of restraint may doom his own defense strategy

29 December 2023

A big part of former President Donald Trump's strategy in the four criminal prosecutions he is facing is delay, delay, delay. Two of those cases are federal cases being prosecuted by special counsel Jack Smith, and things could become even more complicated if Trump returns to the White House in January 2025 — which, according to polls, is a strong possibility.

In an article published by the Daily Beast on December 29, the Daily Beast's Jose Pagliery stresses that even before any of the cases go to trial, Trump could end up in jail because of his lack of restraint.

Trump, according to Pagliery, continues to annoy Judge Tanya Chutkan, the Barack Obama appointee assigned to Smith's election interference case.

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"The countdown is on for Donald Trump's D.C. trial in March," Pagliery explains. "And while Trump has faced jail threats over his inability to abide by gag orders with his recent bank fraud trial in New York, the charges he's facing for his attempts at overturning the 2020 election are criminal in nature — and that means the federal judge overseeing the case has far greater power to punish Trump for not keeping his mouth shut."

The Daily Beast reporter continues, "The simple reason Trump may find himself in jail a lot sooner than he or anyone else thinks is because Trump shows hardly any restraint when it comes to speaking out about his trial, special prosecutor Jack Smith — who he now routinely refers to as 'Deranged Jack Smith' — or court staff who he thinks are treating him unfairly. While jailing Trump for disobeying a gag order would be a controversial move, it's certainly not out of the question."

Catherine Ross of the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. believes it isn't out of the question that Chutkan will jail Trump if he continues to ignore the gag order in that case.

Ross told the Beast, "I think by every indication, Judge Chutkan is well prepared for this. She's not putting up with this."

Pagliery notes that Trump's lack of restraint could also be a problem for him in Georgia, where Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is prosecuting a separate election interference case.

"Trump has used his position of influence as the leading 2024 Republican presidential candidate to wage a war of words against the judiciary, deriding every case against him as a nefarious leftist plot to derail what his devoted followers see as his prophetic return to the White House," Pagliery observes. "He has launched vicious attacks against prosecutors, judges, and court staff — even their family members. That menacing threat has kicked judges into high gear — and of course, it's not just D.C. where Trump may find himself in jail."

Pagliery continues, "In Georgia, where Trump is accused of essentially running a mob-like operation to overturn the election there, a state judge has repeatedly stressed the need for Trump and his lieutenants to not misuse the law enforcement evidence they're receiving from their lawyers as a weapon with which to intimidate witnesses."

Jose Pagliery's full article for The Daily Beast is available at this link (subscription required).

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