If Donald Trump continues to test the patience of the judge hearing his hush money trial, the former president could be returned to his home prison in New York City, Queens — specifically Rikers Island, experts said Monday.
Judge Juan Marchen, who on Monday Found that Trump once again violated the gag order that prevents him from insulting witnesses or a jury, Warned that the former president could face jail “if necessary” for further violations.
Marchan did not specify which prison. But when asked what would happen if a judge sent Trump to Rikers, Frank Dwyer, the prison’s top spokesman, said, “The department will find appropriate accommodations.”
Trump has argued that he is a victim of a two-tier justice system that is treating him more harshly than other individuals. But critics of the former president say it’s actually the other way around — any other criminal defendant would have already found themselves behind bars given the kind of public statements Trump has made.
The possibility of Trump being jailed during his trial is sure to draw a strong reaction from both his supporters and opponents. Trump has repeatedly tried to raise money over the possibility of being jailed, reflecting his campaign’s growing image of him as a political prisoner, which has drawn a strong reaction from his supporters.
Mike Lawler, associate professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven in Connecticut, said Rikers is the most likely destination if Marchant goes that route.
Lawler, who is also a former Democratic member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, said what Marchan is trying to do is “end contempt” and stop Trump from intimidating witnesses and jurors.
“The whole point is to isolate him from his social media,” Lawler said. “Putting him in jail will do that.”
Trump will immediately be placed in protective custody for his safety, Lawler said, meaning he will not be allowed to mix with the rest of the prison population.
“He will have no contact with anyone except corrections officers and members of his Secret Service,” Lawler said. “The people at Rikers have a lot of experience dealing with high-profile inmates, including vulnerable, elderly ones like Trump.”
“Obviously, he will be the most high-profile inmate ever incarcerated at Rikers, but he won’t be the only high-profile inmate at Rikers,” Lawler said of Trump, who is 77.
In fact, one of those prisoners is Trump’s former chief financial officer allen weisselbergWho was sentenced to five months in prison at Rikers last month after pleading guilty to two counts of perjury Trump’Civil fraud suit.
Additionally, Trump would have to go through the admissions process that every inmate goes through, which notoriously included corrections officials “getting him on a scale and then listing his actual height and weight on a public website,” Lawler said.
Lawler said keeping Trump behind bars would not place any additional burden on his Secret Service detail.
“The main job of a Secret Service detail is to protect the former president from harm or kidnapping,” Lawler said. “Putting Trump in prison would, in some ways, actually make their job easier.”
“The big issue is, ‘Where will the Secret Service be, given that they are armed,'” said Martin F. Horn, professor emeritus at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, who once served as commissioner of the New York City Departments of Corrections and Probation. Worked as.
Most likely, Horn said, Trump will be moved to a place called the West Facility, where the former president and his security detail will have enough room and won’t have to contend with any other inmates.
Still, ensuring the safety of a former U.S. president behind bars would be an unprecedented task for the Secret Service, an agency spokesperson told NBC News.
The Secret Service does not have its own “custodial services,” the spokesman said.
“Obviously, this is uncharted territory,” Horn said. “No state prison system has had to deal with this before, and no federal prison has had to do this either.”
Other experts said that’s another reason Marchen wouldn’t be eager to send Trump to jail.
Dave Aronberg, the state attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida, where Trump lives most of the time, said being sent to actual prison could be “Trump wanting to show his supporters a grudge.” an msnbc interview with Jose Diaz-Balart,
More likely, Marchen could give Trump “time out” in a cell at the back of the New York City courtroom where he is currently on trial.
Former federal prosecutor Michael Zeldin, who participated in the same interview, agreed.
Zeldin said, “Maybe an hour in one of those cells would be all Donald Trump would need to understand the seriousness of violating gag orders imposed by a very serious judge.”
House arrest is also a possibility, but the judge has broad discretion as to where Trump can be confined, Horn said.
Lawler said Merchan is unlikely to imprison Trump in a gilded cage, like his apartment in Trump Tower, because he would still have access to electronics and his associates and would be able to defy a judge’s orders from there. will be.
“So I don’t think he’ll be confined to his Manhattan apartment,” Lawler said.