Shortly after he was warned to not make inflammatory statements about those involved in one of his many criminal cases, Donald Trump made an inflammatory statement about someone involved in one of his many criminal cases. “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,” the quick-to-temper tantrum former president wrote on Truth Social.
Trump not only spelled Duncan’s name wrong (it’s Geoff Duncan), legal experts agree he could be in big trouble for his remarks. Well, bigger trouble. He’s already in big trouble.
“This morning’s first attempt at witness intimidation,” attorney George Conway (yes, Kellyanne’s ex-husband) tweeted, while Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University, added, “Add witness tampering to the potential predicate acts for a Georgia RICO charge. O.C.G.A. § 16-10-93. This is blatantly unlawful stuff… This is exceptionally bad even for Donald Trump.”
“Trump needs to be behind bars without access to social media while he awaits trial,” posted Mark Jacob, former editor for the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times. “This is attempted witness intimidation. If Trump’s lawyers can’t stop him from committing mob-style witness intimidation, they should quit. Otherwise they’re accomplices.”
New York University law professor Ryan Goodman broke things down further:
On left:
Former President Trump intimidates a witness in Georgia case.
On right:
Georgia law stating that to release a person on bail, the judge will have to find the defendant “poses no significant risk of intimidating witnesses.”
Note: That is a presumption against release. pic.twitter.com/jzO3vFl0KH
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) August 14, 2023
Trump will somehow blame this on Hunter Biden. Guaranteed.
So again, imagine an accused gang leader posting this on social media after public reports about a witness to be called before the grand jury? Would such a defendant be jailed or charged with witness tampering? In the alternative Trump is actively seeking to poison the jury pool. https://t.co/vxrmt5DZZd
— Sherrilyn Ifill (@SIfill_) August 14, 2023
Trump is now explicitly telling a witness slated to testify Tuesday that he shouldn’t testify. pic.twitter.com/kz8rGe0dxp
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) August 14, 2023
This is witness tampering & obstruction of justice. Trump indicates he knows a witness is about to testify before the grand jury, & he states – unequivocally and directly – “he shouldn’t.” He just told the witness ‘he SHOULD NOT TESTIFY.’ I expect we’ll see these crimes charged. pic.twitter.com/koFRofRBiR
— Glenn Kirschner (@glennkirschner2) August 14, 2023
This sure looks like Donald Trump is trying to intimidate a witness into not testifying against him pic.twitter.com/Fqz4dtFJop
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) August 14, 2023
Donald Trump is now attacking a witness in the Fulton County case against him. It’s witness tampering and witness intimidation. This guy is going to put himself in a jail cell. pic.twitter.com/WTTKcdruhg
— Harry Sisson (@harryjsisson) August 14, 2023
(Via Raw Story)