Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing former President Donald Trump‘s criminal trial in Manhattan, is expected to rule on whether to find Trump in contempt for violating a gag order. District Attorney Alvin Bragg contends the defendant has violated the gag order at least 10 times.
On All In with Chris Hayes, retired California Supreme Court Judge LaDoris Cordell said if she were the judge in Trump’s trial, she would give Trump jail time for violating his gag order.
Cordell explained: “There’s two purposes in contempt. One is to punish and the other is to deter future behavior. A fine is not going to deter but incarceration will. So the question is, will the judge do it. If I were the trial judge, yes, I would impose jail time.”
WATCH: @judgecordell says if she were the judge in Trump’s trial, she would give Trump jail time for violating his gag order—and she would impose the sentence at the end of the trial, “maybe while the jurors are deliberating,” as not to delay the proceedings. pic.twitter.com/LpEhyhnv3W
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) April 24, 2024
When Hayes responded with surprise, “Really?”, Cordell confirmed that yes but she would stay the jail time (Trump wouldn’t go to jail right away) so it doesn’t delay the trial which Cordell says is “what Trump and his people want.”
Cordell said she would impose the sentence at the end of the trial, “maybe while the jurors are deliberating,” so as not to delay the proceedings. Cordell added that “there’s nothing preventing him [Judge Merchan] from doing that.”