Former President Donald Trump’s critics recently called for him to be jailed following a post he made on social media that appeared to promise revenge on people who “go after” him via Newsweek.
It has come to light the ssers of social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, cited the post that Trump had made on his Truth Social site and suggested the judge overseeing his case should put the former president behind bars.
Those calls come as the Department of Justice (DOJ) sought a protective order on Friday to limit the information Trump can share in the case against him arising from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probe into attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
The filing seeking that order from U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan included a screenshot of Trump’s post earlier on Friday where he had written: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”
Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance tweeted on Friday: “The special counsel just alerted the court to Trump’s threat-tweet in a motion asking the court for a protective order so it can begin providing discovery. There would be serious consequences for Trump if he violates the order. If he keeps it up, he’s got to end up in jail.”
“It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that this guy talks or posts himself into some form of pretrial detention,” said conservative lawyer George Conway.
Meanwhile, Team Trump, the former president’s official campaign account on X, shared a statement attributed to a Trump spokesperson at 12.18 a.m. on Saturday that sought to clarify the Truth Social post and to indicate that Trump’s comment was not aimed at prosecutors.
“The Truth post cited is the definition of political speech, and was in response to the RINO, China-loving, dishonest special interest groups and Super PACs, like the ones funded by the Koch brothers and the Club for No Growth,” the statement said.
Billionaire conservative Charles Koch’s network of donors, Americans for Prosperity, and the influential Club for Growth have said they will not back Trump in 2024.
