MSNBC: The “Lock Him Up” Network.
During MSNBC’s 2 pm hour today, hosted by Chris Jansing, MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner suggested that Donald Trump should be jailed pending his federal trial because of the “danger” and “threat” to the community he poses.
Kirschner, a former assistant US attorney, suggested that Trump poses a greater threat than thousands of other (often violent) defendants who are jailed pending trial, given:
“not only what we saw him do on January 6th, but his incessant posts and comments, that in a very real sense jeopardize, or put in harm’s way, judges, prosecutors, their families, witnesses, grand jurors, trial jurors.”
The trial judge has the right to impose restrictions on what Trump can say or write during the trial. And if he violated those restrictions, he could be held in contempt of court and potentially jailed.
Kirschner actually went beyond merely suggesting that Trump should be jailed. He concluded his remarks by saying that if Trump is not jailed, “I don’t think it can be said that we’re treating Trump the way we’re treating other people who are similarly situated.”
Here’s the transcript.
MSNBC
Chris Jansing Reports
6/13/23
2:29 pm EDTGLENN KIRSCHNER: Can I just build on something Joyce [Vance] said, real quickly, about wanting to treat Donald Trump the way we would treat anybody else? I agree with her that it’s unlikely the judge will impose serious limitations or restrictions on his movement pending trial.
Of course, I think it’s fair to ask the question, you know, when we have thousands of pretrial detainees being jailed pending trial in jurisdictions all across this country because judges have determined each one poses a danger to the community. And a judge has to reach that conclusion by a preponderance of the evidence, a fairly high evidentiary standard. Do all of thpse people pose a greater threat to the community than Donald Trump?
With not only what we saw him do on January 6th, but his incessant posts and comments that in a very real sense jeopardize, or put in harm’s way, judges, prosecutors, their families, witnesses, grand jurors, trial jurors.
And if anybody else who was similarly situated, and had done the things Trump did, like violate our nation’s espionage laws and then obstruct justice to keep those documents, that classified information and national defense information, to himself unlawfully.
If anybody else had done that, would they enjoy pretrial release? Or would they be deemed a risk to the community? And would there be a conversation about what the judge should do with that person pending trial?