During a recent episode of MSNBC’s “Inside With Jen Psaki,” host Jen Psaki raised concerns to former Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) about former President Donald Trump potentially violating a gag order imposed by Federal District Judge Tanya Chutkan. This came in light of Trump’s criticism of the judge in a speech just hours after the gag order was issued.
Christie, though acknowledging Trump’s comments were “close to the line,” expressed the view that they might not have crossed the threshold for a violation. He anticipated that Trump’s behavior could potentially breach the gag order in the future. Christie cited his experience as a former U.S. attorney, explaining that such legal restrictions are standard procedures in cases involving defendants.
Christie emphasized that the law applies to everyone, including a presidential candidate facing indictments in multiple jurisdictions. He emphasized the importance of maintaining a fair trial and preventing attempts to influence the jury pool or attack individuals involved in the case. Christie pointed out that Trump’s tendency to attack individuals is well known, indicating that the former president might have come close to violating the order with his recent comments about the judge.
While Christie suggested that the judge might require more direct evidence of a violation before taking action, he underscored the concerning behavior of Trump and expressed his dismay at the current state of affairs within the Republican Party. Christie highlighted the importance of holding candidates to a high standard of conduct, particularly those vying for the nomination of his own party.
JEN PSAKI: Donald Trump is already openly complaining about the gag order. And Judge Chutkan. I want to take a listen. You’ve probably seen this, but everybody may not have to what Trump said just a couple of hours ago.
DONALD TRUMP: A judge gave a gag order today. Did you hear that? On speech, which I believe is totally unconstitutional. What she did. A judge gave a gag order. Judge doesn’t like me too much. Her whole life is that like in me?
JEN PSAKI: I think us non-lawyers are trying to evaluate what violates the gag order and what doesn’t. I mean, did he already violate the gag order by complaining about Judge Chutkan? What’s your view on that?
CHRIS CHRISTIE: He probably didn’t violate the gag order. But look, he will. I mean, that’s — we know, Jen, he will. And the fact is that this is the problem with having a Republican candidate for president who is under indictment in four different jurisdictions. These kind of things happen to defendants all the time. Gag orders are often put in place. I was a U.S. attorney for seven years and we saw this happen any number of times. You’re not allowed to do this. And because he’s running for president, he thinks somehow the law does not apply to him. It does.
And so the fact is that I think that appears to be, I didn’t see the whole order, but it appears to be a pretty narrowly-tailored order that tries to prevent him from polluting a jury pool against certain witnesses and against the government. He gets to say it was a politically, it’s a politically-motivated prosecution if that’s what he wants to say. But he doesn’t get to attack individuals, which is his, you know, stock and trade.
So I think he came close to the line on that one in saying she doesn’t like me and that she has a history of not liking me. My guess is it’s not going to take that, if she’s going to call him on it. It’s going to take something much more direct. But look, this is the awful temperament of the guy who is currently the frontrunner for the nomination of my party. And that’s why I’m out here calling him out directly on this stuff, Jen, because his conduct is beneath the office that he was privileged to hold.
