You know if this was a normal person and you basically didn't do what a judge told you to do, and for Trump that was to basically shut up about the case, the judge would have you in jail on contempt charges.
Trump could not talk to potential witnesses about the case except through lawyers, Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya told him, and he could not commit a crime on the local, state, or federal level. Both are standard directives to defendants. But then Upadhyaya added a warning that seemed tailored a bit more specifically to the blustery politician standing before her: “I want to remind you,” the judge said, “it is a crime to intimidate a witness or retaliate against anyone for providing information about your case to the prosecution, or otherwise obstruct justice.”
When Upadhyaya asked Trump if he understood, he nodded. Fewer than 24 hours later, Trump appeared to flout that very warning—in its spirit if not its letter—by threatening his would-be foes in an all-caps post on Truth Social: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”
But is a judge actually going to jail Donald Trump in the middle of a presidential campaign? Probably not, I say why not !. Judge Chutkan will probably admonish Trump for violating her protective order, but she won't really do anything about it… So far, no judge has been willing to hold Trump in contempt and jail him. I say lock him up.
