Former federal prosecutor Katie Cherkasky questioned Monday on Fox News the “constitutionality” of the gag order placed on former President Donald Trump, saying Democrats fear making Trump into a “civil rights martyr.”
Cherkasky appeared on “Jesse Watters Primetime” to discuss the gag order violations Trump has run into during his trial with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Presiding Judge Juan Merchan found the former president in violation of his gag order for the 10th time, warning that additional infractions could leave Trump with jail time.
Fox host Jesse Watters questioned the former federal prosecutor about the recent warning from Merchan, asking her if she believes Trump could actually be sent to jail. (RELATED: Judge Finds Trump Violated Gag Order For 10th Time)
“Well, I think that the Democrats are in a very tough position now,” Cherkasky stated. “They’re stuck between their dream of finally seeing Trump behind bars and now the nightmare that he’ll become some sort of civil rights martyr when he gets put in there. But it’s probably the most likely chance that they’ll see him behind bars based on the prosecution presentation so far.”
“I don’t think the judge Merchan wants to do it because logistically it’s a nightmare, but the threats keep building,” she continued. “The order is so vague that it’s anyone’s guess whether Trump does violate it. That’s part of the significant problem here with the constitutionality of the order is that essentially anything can be interpreted it to be a violation of the order.”
Watters continued to ask Cherkasky about the issue, jokingly asking if she believed the Secret Service would be able to go to jail with Trump. As the former prosecutor laughed at the question, she stated that she would expect protection for the former president.
“I think for the sake of our national security we would want to have protection of somebody that has that many state secrets. I mean this is a former president we’re talking about. The practicality of this is preposterous, but again Merchan keeps insisting that that’s the next step here,” Cherkasky stated.
The former president has repeatedly vocalized his objection to the gag order placed on him, restricting him from making statements about witnesses, prosecutors besides the district attorney, court staff and jurors, along with family members of the staff, district attorney or judge. The order, which was originally placed at the end of March, was extended by early April after Trump made comments on social media criticizing Merchan’s daughter.
Last week Marchan fined the former president $9,000 and held him in contempt for violating the gag order, with previous warnings of jail time. The judge ordered Trump to remove social media posts by a required time and gave him until May 3 to pay the fine.