(PrimeChronicle.org) – Attorney and former FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann remarked that former President Donald Trump may be risking prison time. Prosecutors in Trump’s “hush money” case have argued that the former president be held in contempt for violating Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order. Merchan has asserted that social media posts shared by Trump constitute a violation of the order. Weissman argued that the threat of prison time could be the only way to corral Trump into following Merchan’s orders.
Judge Merchan has scheduled a hearing to adjudicate the issues around Trump’s potential violations of the gag order. Trump’s legal team responded that sharing other people’s opinions or posts is not a violation of Merchan’s order.
On April 20th, Trump doubled down on claims and labeled the trial as a “witch-hunt” and a “hoax” and went as far as demanding the removal of Judge Merchan. Trump has argued that Merchan has significant ties to democrats and described Merchan as “the most conflicted”.
Trump is accused of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records connected to supposed “hush money” concerning an alleged affair between the former president and adult film performer Stormy Daniels. Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, reportedly paid the performer to keep the alleged affair secret leading up to the 2016 election. The funds were labeled as “legal fees” which, according to prosecutors, could be an illegal move to influence the results of the election.
An AP/NORC survey released on April 14th showed that only 35 percent of people believe Trump did anything “overtly illegal” in connection to the criminal case. A total of six percent of Republicans answered that they believed Trump did something illegal. Among independents, 32 percent believe Trump did something illegal, compared to 62 percent of Democrats who believe Trump violated the law in connection to the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels. The survey was conducted on April 4th and polled over 1,200 individuals.
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