Former President Trump on Monday appeared to warn former Georgia lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan against testifying before the Fulton County grand jury in the state's 2020 election probe.
Driving the news: "I am reading reports that failed former Lt. Governor of Georgia, Jeff Duncan, will be testifying before the Fulton County Grand Jury," Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Monday.
"He shouldn't. I barely know him but he was, right from the beginning of this Witch Hunt, a nasty disaster for those looking into the Election Fraud that took place in Georgia."
Duncan, who criticized Trump's false election fraud claims in 2020, said Saturday that he had been told to appear Tuesday before the Fulton County grand jury.
"Republicans should never let honesty be mistaken for weakness," he wrote in a post on X.
What's next: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis appears poised to issue a charging decision on Trump's alleged efforts to subvert election results.
The big picture: Trump's Monday Truth Social post comes days after the judge overseeing a separate trial — the federal probe into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election — warned against making "inflammatory statements" that could intimidate witnesses in that trial.
U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan said during a Friday hearing that any appearance of witness tampering would increase the need for a speedy trial.
Trump already faces three criminal trials: In D.C. over efforts to overturn the 2020 election, in Florida over his retention of classified documents and in New York over an alleged hush money payment.
This is him attempting to call the judge’s bluff. Following the order, he also posted calling the judge biased. He’s exploring to see if the judge will let him get away with it. He’ll slowly ramp up the posts until the judge tells him to cut it out again, and then he’ll know where the line is. At that point, he’ll simply toe the line and cry “but it wasn’t a problem before” if she tries to cut down on it later.
He believes the judge is afraid to hold him in contempt, and thus far he has been correct. But this is a direct violation of the judge’s order, and the judge shouldn’t let it slide. If she treats this with leniency, he’ll only take it as tacit approval and continue getting more inflammatory. The only reason I can see for the judge allowing it to continue is to give him more rope to hang himself with. One violation of the order is bad, but if she lets it continue and he racks up a bunch of evidence, she may have better justification to hold him and expedite the trial.
What is it actually going to take to put this fucker in jail? Does he need to intimidate 20 witnesses first? I hate that the justice system feels they need to walk on eggshells around this wanna-be dictator cry baby.
I'm convinced that Trump could murder someone live on camera and then claim it wasn't him, a shapeshifter did it, and get away with it and still have a voter base defending him.
The Judge should lock him up for witness tampering.
18 U.S. Code § 1512 In cases of a threat of physical force intended to witness tamper, the maximum punishment is 20 years in federal prison. Intimidation, threats, or corrupt persuasion also subjects the defendant to a maximum punishment of 20 years imprisonment.
I've noticed his base is starting to turn against the billionaire class. I think Trump is turning them against all the rich and powerful that aren't siding with him basically. And it really seems like he's trying to get a judge to jail him to make him a political martyr and set off the powderkeg he's been building for years. He wants a violent uprising to install him in perpetual power so bad.
He is never going to give up as long as he is not behind bars. If a judge ever orders him into custody, he's going to be dragged out of the courtroom kicking and screaming. They're probably going to wheel him into jail using one of those wheelchair cart things and a spit guard.
Is this the part where we point out (again) that anyone else would be waiting for all this to play out from a jail cell, or at least house arrest, by this point?
The scary thing is "Trump is his own worst enemy". Yes, you've heard that in regards to him doing things that gets him in trouble a million times. However, when people hear him, they tend to disapprove of him. People are in love with the "idea" of Trump. Putting him in jail for witness tampering might bump him up in the polls since all the republicans can get this "idea" of Trump in their head and the real version can't contradict it.
And before you say it, no, I don't have an alternative. He should be in jail, but it's like taking a fire extinguisher to a grease fire that isn't in a pot.
Just go away already, I'm so tired of hearing about this ass clown.
I'd be down with letting him off of everything if the stipulation was that he was not able to be in any office position, have any social media accounts, or appear in any public or media appearances ever again.
At this point, I'm pretty sure he knows he's guilty as hell, just wants to see if you can rack up all the felonies in all the states. I'm sure he's going to shoot a man in Alaska soon.
He needs to be grounded, like the child that he is. This judge needs to take away his toys and put him in a corner for some quiet time. Amount of time doubles every time he re-commits the same infraction later.