Alvin Bragg, the Democrat Manhattan District Attorney, appeared to back down from having former President Donald Trump jailed for allegedly violating a gag order during a hearing before Judge Juan Merchan on Tuesday.
The hearing, which was called by Bragg to address the alleged gag violation, took a surprising turn when the DA did not explicitly ask Merchan to punish Trump with jail time, despite the judge’s authority to fine and imprison the former president for up to 30 days.
Trump, who had previously stated that it would be a “GREAT HONOR” to become a “modern-day Nelson Mandela” in the “clink” for speaking the truth about Merchan, appeared to have called Bragg’s bluff.
During the hearing, Bragg’s prosecutor, Christopher Conroy, raised concerns about a post Trump made on his Truth Social platform on April 17.
The post, which quoted Fox News host Jesse Watters, claimed that “liberal activists were being caught trying to sneak onto the Trump jury.”
According to Reuters, Conroy pointed out a discrepancy between Watters’ actual statement on his show, “They are catching undercover liberal activists lying to the judge,” and Trump’s post, which read, “They are catching undercover liberal activists lying to the judge in order to get on the Trump jury.”
Despite Conroy’s characterization of the post as “very troubling,” Bragg did not follow through with trying to seek jail time for the former president.
Justice Merchan stated that he would not immediately rule from the bench on the gag order, leaving the matter unresolved for now.
Some observers have speculated that Bragg’s apparent hesitation may hint at a lack of confidence in his ability to successfully Trump in the high-profile case.
As the legal battle between Trump and the Manhattan DA’s office continues to unfold, the public will be closely watching to see how Bragg and his team navigate the challenges of prosecuting the leading Republican presidential candidate during an election year.
The Horn editorial team