Former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) suggested a legal punishment that might deter Donald Trump from violating a potential gag order in his federal election subversion case.
Special counsel Jack Smith on Friday filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to bar the president from making inflammatory statements that he said are jeopardizing the safety of witnesses and compromising the jury pool.
McCaskill said many high-ranking legal experts in her circles have been debating what Chutkan should do in response to the filing, amid concerns over the poor example Trump is setting in the justice system.
“There’s a sense that this judge needs to be very clear about what happens if he violates the gag order,” she told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace on “Deadline: White House” on Tuesday.
Her idea? “If he violates the gag order, every time he violates it, she should move the trial up one week,” McCaskill said.
She said Trump desperately wants for the trial to happen after the election, “so if you’re going to hold him to account, do it in a place that hurts him.”
“Make him have this evidence come out in a court of law sooner rather than later,” she added.
McCaskill’s suggestion prompted chuckles from Wallace and her fellow panelists.
Timothy Heaphy, who was the Jan. 6 committee’s lead investigator, said he totally agreed with the former senator, but the judge “may not go as far as Claire suggests.”
“But I expect her to say, ‘Sir, your statements are making it very difficult for us and really the only way to cure that is to get this matter resolved,’” he added.
Trump’s trial is scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024. His team had requested that it start in April 2026, more than a year after the next presidential election.
Trump is the Republican front-runner in that race, while navigating four indictments and dozens of felony charges. He has repeatedly attacked judges, prosecutors and others involved with those cases.
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