Donald Trump's Comments Could Land Him in Jail: Ex-White House Lawyer

Donald Trump is at risk of being jailed if he continues to share "incendiary" attacks on social media, according to former White House lawyer Ty Cobb.

The former president has frequently been criticized for his online rhetoric and public statements, and was imposed with gag orders by judges overseeing his civil fraud trial in New York and the federal case into his alleged criminal attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.

Recently, Trump shared a Truth Social post from another user discussing a "fantasy" scenario where Judge Arthur Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who are both involved in the $250 million civil fraud trial in New York, are placed under citizen's arrest for "blatant election interference and harassment."

Trump, the front-runner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, has denied all wrongdoing in connection to the fraud civil trial, and accused the case of being a politically motivated "witch hunt" which aims to hinder his chances of winning the next election.

Engoron, who is overseeing the civil fraud trial brought on by James' lawsuit, has already fined Trump on two occasions for violating a gag order preventing him from attacking court staff during proceedings. Trump is free to attack the judge and the case against him under the order.

Reacting to the citizen's arrest post, Ty Cobb, a former White House in the Trump administration, told CNN that they are the "types of incendiary attacks that do lead to violence" which Trump may be punished for.

"He's specifically asked people to conduct a citizen's arrest. Detention of either James or Engoron would be a crime if committed by any individual who was so motivated by the president's remarks. It's much like what he did on January 6, he continues to be off the rails in terms of the extent to which his invective infects these proceedings and is the potential in them to intimidate witnesses," Cobb said.

"Comments like this will result in Trump not only being sanctioned, which will probably be the first order of business, but at some point, these types of comments will result in him being put in jail pending some of these trials."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's legal team via email for comment.

On October 20, Engoron fined Trump $5,000 for violating the gag order by not removing a Truth Social post from his site which attacked Engoron's longtime law clerk Allison Greenfield more than two weeks after the judge ordered its deletion. Engoron warned at the time that any further transgressions could bring "far more severe" sanctions against the former president, including "possibly imprisoning him."

Trump was later fined a further $10,000 after he described Greenfield as a "very partisan" individual to reporters outside the New York courtroom. "Don't do it again or it will be worse," Engoron warned Trump on October 25.

It remains to be seen if the judge will take the unprecedented step of jailing a former president who is currently taking part in another White House campaign.

Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said that Trump sharing the citizen's arrest post was "incredibly reckless" and could have real life consequences.

"Someone could take violent action in response," McQuade told Newsweek.

McQuade added that the post may prompt Engoron to expand the gag order imposed against the former president.

Engoron has already widened his gag order to include the former president's lawyer to stop them discussing "confidential communications" between the judge and his staff during the civil trial.

Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronberg suggested that it is unlikely that Trump will face any major punishment if he violates Engoron's gag order unless it is expanded.

"Trump continues his barrage of attacks against judges and lawyers, but the gag order in New York doesn't go beyond court staff, so I don't expect any sanctions for this until that changes," Aronberg told Newsweek.

"If any other defendant did this, they would face real punishment. As a former president running for the White House again, Trump has been given extra deference for his inflammatory words."