He might have a much bigger problem than being held in contempt of court.
The recent statements at issue that Donald Trump has made on social media and in interviews fall into two categories — attacks on witnesses and attacks on the jurors. | Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICOAnkush Khardori is a senior writer for POLITICO Magazine and a former federal prosecutor at the Department of Justice, where he specialized in financial fraud and white-collar crime. He has also worked in the private sector on complex commercial litigation and white-collar corporate defense.
Unfortunately for Trump and his lawyers, he has already materially damaged his own legal defense in at least two distinct ways. First, he may have created more evidence that prosecutors might be able to use against him in the case. Jurors have been instructed to avoid news coverage of the trial, but I consulted several lawyers and law professors with deep experience considering thorny evidentiary issues in New York courts, and the rough consensus was that at least some of these comments could very well be admissible in the case against Trump.as “threats” and “harassing comments on social media and in other public statements” directed at Cohen and Daniels.
If they were to do that with Trump’s broadsides since the trial began, the effect could be potent: The jurors would get to see just how inappropriately Trump has been acting outside the courtroom while he has been on trial — and while the jurors, whose lives have been upended and permanently changed by their participation in the case, have been trying to carry out their civic responsibility.
Since the start of this case, many observers — myself very much included — have questioned whether Trump would serve any sort of prison sentence if he is convicted at the close of the case. After all,; this is the first-ever criminal prosecution against a former president; and New York courts tend to go easy on first-time white-collar offenders.
Trump’s behavior outside the courtroom will make matters even worse for him if the day arrives when Merchan has to hand down a sentence for him.
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