As a direct result of his complete inability to control his worst impulses, disgraced former president Donald Trump may soon find himself facing incarceration in the state of Georgia if and when he’s indicted.
Indictments are expected to be handed down by a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia as soon as Tuesday, but Trump couldn’t resist firing off what sounded like textbook witness intimidation this morning with a social media attack on the state’s former Republican Lt. Gov., Geoff Duncan, which read:
“I am reading reports that failed former Lt. Governor of Georgia, Jeff Duncan, will be testifying before the Fulton County Grand Jury. He shouldn’t. I barely know him but he was, right from the beginning of this Witch Hunt, a nasty disaster for those looking into the Election Fraud that took place in Georgia. He refused having a Special Session to find out what went on, became very unpopular with Republicans (I refused to endorse him!), and fought the TRUTH all the way. A loser, he went to FNCNN!”
That posting led former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade to note: “Witness tampering in real time.”
And now Andrew Weissmann, who served in the Department of Justice for years and was also the lead investigator in the Trump-Russia probe led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, is warning that a judge in the Peach State can refuse to grant bail to any defendant who might be a threat to intimidate witnesses or obstruct justice.
During an appearance on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” Weissmann explained:
“Now we have seen the former president get bail in Manhattan, in Florida, and in D.C. We have also seen the former president continue to make statements that at least arguably are obstruction of justice or intimidating witnesses. Why is that important? Because in Georgia, the statute that may apply here depending on what is charged is one where the presumption is one that the defendant has the burden of rebutting. And in other words, it is on the defendant to show that he will not commit crimes and not a risk of flight and let me give you the exact words because this is the provision that the court has to find to release someone on bail in Georgia.”
He continued:
“Which is that the defendant poses no risk of intimidating witnesses, or otherwise obstructing the administration of justice. Poses no risk of intimidating witnesses. To me, that is going to be for a judge who is going to treat Donald Trump or anyone else like any other defendant, that could be a problem. Because just today we saw a continuation of attacks on the D.C. federal judge and on Truth Social saying that Geoff Duncan, the former lieutenant governor, should not comply with the grand jury subpoena in Georgia. You can’t tell a witness not to comply with a grand jury subpoena unless there is some legal ability to do that. But that is not what the former president did. So, it will be interesting to see how the judge deals with bail.”
Can you imagine how enraged Trump and his supporters would be if he’s held in detention until his trial? He’d lose all access to social media also wouldn’t be able to do live interviews or campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. And that, more than anything, might just be the worst punishment of all for a narcissistic prick like the loser ex-president.
