According to people familiar with the matter, the U.S. Secret Service met and began making plans for what to do in the event that Judge Juan Merchan decided to place former President Donald Trump in temporary detention for contempt in connection with his criminal hush money prosecution.
Following a heated hearing, Merchan on Tuesday postponed making a ruling. The prosecution stated that they are currently requesting a fine.
“We are not yet seeking an incarceratory penalty,” assistant district attorney Chris Conroy stated, “But the defendant seems to be angling for that.”
Although officials do not necessarily think Merchan would imprison Trump in the courtroom, they are nonetheless preparing for the worst, they stated.
The course of action in the event that Trump is found guilty and given a prison term has not yet been discussed.
The former president is on trial for felonies related to forging financial documents to conceal the return of a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, prior to the 2016 presidential election.
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Regarding particular plans in the subject, the Secret Service declined to comment.
“Under federal law, the United States Secret Service must provide protection for current government leaders, former Presidents and First Ladies, visiting heads of state and other individuals designated by the President of the United States,” the agency stated in a statement. “For all settings around the world, we study locations and develop comprehensive and layered protective models that incorporate state of the art technology, protective intelligence and advanced security tactics to safeguard our protectees. Beyond that, we do not comment on specific protective operations.”
Prosecutors claimed that Trump had broken the restricted gag order at least ten times this month, which forbids him from making comments on any of the case’s witnesses, jurors, or attorneys save Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Trump’s attorneys informed Merchan that the former president was shielding himself from potential witnesses by claiming that the prosecution has not shown that the former president intentionally broke the gag order with his social media posts attacking Cohen and Daniels.
Additionally, defense attorneys said that the gag order is ambiguous and permits Trump to make “political” remarks.
