Retired Judge LaDoris Cordell said she would "impose jail time" on former President Donald Trump for violating a gag order, Breitbart reported. The former California Superior Court judge made these remarks on MSNBC's All In on Tuesday.
Cordell was speaking to host Chris Hayes about the gag order imposed on Trump in his New York hush money trial. Judge Juan Merchan issued the order to prevent the 2024 GOP presidential candidate from speaking about witnesses and certain officials, The Hill reported.
Now, prosecutors claim that Trump has violated the order at least 10 times as he takes to the media to defend himself. He is forced to pay a fine of $1,000 each time he violates the order but seems undeterred.
Hayes believes Trump "is basically trying to get himself thrown in jail for some stunned reason." When Cordell was asked for her thoughts on that prospect, she began her diatribe against Trump that was very telling about the left's motivations.
"Some people say he will go to jail and he will be a martyr. It doesn’t matter," Cordell told Hayes about the prospect of a judge putting Trump behind bars.
"There are two purposes of contempt. One is to punish, and one is to deter future behavior. The fine will not deter, but incarceration will. The question is, will the judge do it?" Cordell wondered.
"If I were the trial judge, I would impose jail time. I would stay it meaning you’re not going to jail right now, because that would delay the trial, which is what Donald Trump and his people want," she added.
"I would stay at, meaning I will sentence you to whatever time I find appropriate, and I will impose that at the end of the trial, maybe while the jurors are deliberating. There is nothing to prevent the judge from doing that." Cordell said.
WATCH: @judgecordell says if she were the judge in Trump’s trial, she would give Trump jail time for violating his gag order—and she would impose the sentence at the end of the trial, “maybe while the jurors are deliberating,” as not to delay the proceedings. pic.twitter.com/LpEhyhnv3W
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) April 24, 2024
Lost in Cordell's glee at the thought of throwing Trump in jail is the fact that this gag order should have never been imposed in the first place. Many things about prosecuting a former president and current candidate are unprecedented, but demanding he remain quiet about his trial during the campaign is the worst of it.
Trump railed against this whole scheme against him outside of the courtroom Tuesday, Fox News reported. "We have a gag order, which to me is totally unconstitutional," he said.
"I'm not allowed to talk, but people are allowed to talk about me. So, they can talk about me," he continued.
"They can say whatever they want; they can lie, but I'm not allowed to say anything. I just have to sit back and look at why a conflicted judge has ordered me to have [a] gag order," Trump rightly pointed out.
This isn't fair to do to Trump during a presidential election. However, it's clear from Cordell's remarks and Merchan's actions that this is exactly what they want to do to sideline him during his campaign.
