Trump Accused of Violating Judge’s Witness Warning Just One Day Later

Added: 2026-05-14

[00:00:00]You know, I was in court on Thursday, federal court in Washington, D.C. right here in my backyard.

[00:00:07]And I saw the judge give Donald Trump the following warning.

[00:00:13]"Sir, I want to remind you that it's a crime to try to influence a juror, threaten a witness, retaliate against anyone, or obstruct the administration of justice. Do you understand these warnings and consequences, sir?"

[00:00:31]And the defendant, Donald Trump, responded, "Yes."

[00:00:36]And then, not 24 hours later, Donald Trump posted the following.

[00:00:43]"If you go after me, I'm coming after you."

[00:00:47]And special counsel Jack Smith had a little something to say about that.

[00:00:53]Here's the new reporting from NBC News.

[00:00:55]Headline, "Special Counsel cites threatening Trump post in request for protective order in election interference case."

[00:01:04]And that article begins, "Federal prosecutors on Friday asked the judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's election interference case to bar him from publicly disclosing some of the evidence gathered during their investigation.

[00:01:20]In a court filing, attorneys with the special counsel Jack Smith's office requested that U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ensure that sensitive materials are used by Trump's defense team for only the trial.

[00:01:36]And that the former president view the materials in the presence of his lawyers."

[00:01:41]This from the prosecutors, "Quote, all the proposed order seeks to prevent is the improper dissemination or use of discovery materials, including to the public, they wrote. Such a restriction is particularly important in this case because the defendant has previously issued public statements on social media regarding witnesses, judges, attorneys, and others associated with the legal matters pending against him. Prosecutors went on to say that Trump had written multiple posts that mentioned or implied the case, including one that appeared on his Truth Social page Friday afternoon that read, "If you go after me, I'm coming after you."

[00:02:29]Trump's use of details or grand jury transcripts obtained in discovery could have a harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in this case, the prosecutors wrote.

[00:02:46]And now, the presiding judge, Judge Tanya Chutkan, working on a Saturday, issued an order.

[00:02:56]It is hereby ordered that by 5:00 p.m.

[00:03:00]on August 7th, 2023, defendant shall file a response to the government's motion for protective order stating defendant's position on the motion.

[00:03:10]If defendant disagrees with any portion of the government's proposed protective order, his response shall include a revised version of that protective order with any modifications in redline, signed by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on 8/5/2023.

[00:03:32]So, friends, what happens now? What comes next? Well, let's turn to the wonderful world of show cause orders.

[00:03:40]What's a show cause order? Well, defendants are often under the supervision of a judge, and you can be under court supervision as a pretrial defendant, as is defendant Donald Trump, right? He was indicted and arrested and arraigned, presented to the court, and the judge put him on release, but imposed conditions while he's on pre-trial release. And if he violates those conditions, the judge could issue a show cause order.

[00:04:13]You can also be on court supervision post-trial. For example, if you're convicted and sentenced to a period of probation, the judge will set certain conditions of your probation that you have to comply with. And if you violate those conditions, the judge could issue a show cause order and could revoke your probation and imprison you. So, right now, Donald Trump is a pre-trial defendant who is under court supervision.

[00:04:44]And as part of that court supervision, as we just reviewed, the magistrate judge set certain conditions. So, what happens when a defendant potentially violates conditions of release?

[00:04:58]Generally, the court will issue a show cause order.

[00:05:02]And show cause orders can come into existence in in really one of two ways.

[00:05:07]Either the prosecutors, once they learn that the defendant may have violated a condition of release, a condition set by the judge, they can file a motion asking the judge to order a hearing, a show cause hearing. At which hearing the defendant has to literally show cause why the defendant shouldn't revoke his pre-trial release for violating conditions, conditions that had been set by the judge just 24 hours before Donald Trump, you know, posted his threatening missive.

[00:05:45]The other way a show cause hearing can come into existence is if the judge him or herself learns that the defendant may have violated a condition of release.

[00:05:57]Generally, the way that happens is there is an agency called the pre-trial services agency. It's sort of an arm of the court that monitors defendants who are on pre-trial release or who are on probation post-conviction.

[00:06:15]And they may get information from any number of sources that a defendant has violated a condition of release and they will send the notice to the judge. And then the judge on his own on her own will issue a show cause order. Friends, I can't tell you how many times over the years I'd be sitting in my office and I'd get a notice that a defendant in one of my cases who was on pre-trial release has been ordered to show cause. I would either get it by email or back in the day, kind of before everything was done electronically, I would literally get a piece of paper in my inbox and it was a show cause order.

[00:06:55]And that's how I learned that a defendant who was on release in one of my cases may have violated a condition of release.

[00:07:03]So, the the question I have right now is will Donald Trump be ordered to show cause why he didn't violate his conditions of release by posting that threatening language?

[00:07:19]And if he is found by the judge to have violated a condition of his pre-trial release, what can be done?

[00:07:28]He can be sanctioned. He can be given a good stern talking-to.

[00:07:34]Or he could be revoked on release and detained pending trial.

[00:07:41]Now, I think it's important to add that special counsel Jack Smith and his team of federal prosecutors have not yet sought a show cause hearing. And the judge hasn't yet ordered one at this moment. All we know is that the judge has ordered Trump's criminal defense attorneys to file in court on Monday by 5:00 p.m. their position on the protective order requested by the prosecutors to keep Donald Trump from threatening the witnesses, from disseminating their names, their information, from putting them in harm's way. Because anytime Donald Trump starts posting the names of his perceived enemies, including the witnesses who have provided information, incriminating evidence against him, anytime he starts putting that information in the public square, we all know he's endangering the lives of those witnesses.

[00:08:41]Because any number of his supporters will be inspired to act once he, you know, discloses, disseminates the name of one of his perceived enemies.

[00:08:56]So, I suspect that the defense will not oppose Jack Smith's request for a protective order for all of the evidence Jack Smith is about to hand over in discovery.

[00:09:08]The open question for me is whether Donald Trump's attorneys will say anything about Donald Trump's post. I suspect they will either let it go entirely because Jack Smith hasn't asked the judge to do anything about it.

[00:09:24]Hasn't asked the judge to, you know, force Donald Trump to show cause why he didn't violate conditions of his release. They haven't asked that yet.

[00:09:36]So, Donald Trump's lawyers are likely to just let it go without comment or if they comment on it, I suspect they will parrot, they will mimic what their client, Donald Trump, has since said about that dangerous, reckless, threatening post. You know, he tried to play it off like, "Oh, that's just political speech. I was really talking about my opponents, you know, the people who are running for the Republican nomination for president against me. Yeah, yeah, that's what I was doing." Oh, bull. Come on now.

[00:10:14]You know that's not what he was doing.

[00:10:18]But, if his defense attorneys say anything about it, they will probably parrot their client's lies.

[00:10:27]We'll know by Monday at 5:00 when we see what the defense attorneys file.

[00:10:32]But, let's end with this, friends. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, and I'll keep saying it, Judge Tanya Chutkan don't play.

[00:10:44]I know her most directly from when we were trying cases against one another, murder cases in DC Superior Court when she was a public defender and I was an assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia prosecuting murder cases. Judge Chutkan don't play.

[00:11:02]And it feels like now that she is the presiding judge, you know, Donald Trump and his, you know, band of merry lawyers have met their match.

[00:11:15]And it seems now like every day, every day, Donald Trump moves one step closer to detention, to a jail cell. I think the only remaining question is, will Donald Trump first see the inside of a jail cell in a pre-trial status, pre-trial detention because he continues to violate conditions of his pre-trial release, or will he make it through the pre-trial stage of the case, go to trial, be convicted, be sentenced to prison, and will he first see the inside of a jail cell as a convicted felon?

[00:11:58]Because one way or another, Donald Trump will be measured for an orange jumpsuit.