Donald Trump will not be detained when he comes before a judge to be arraigned this week, prior to his trial in Fulton County, Georgia over his alleged actions to overturn the 2020 presidential election he lost.
A Georgia judge late Monday afternoon set specific restrictions on Trump as part of his bond in District Attorney Fani Willis’ prosecution of the ex-president.
Trump’s history of what some see as intimidation of both witnesses and officers of the court, which would include prosecutors, is well-known and as recent as last week.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee signed off on the consent bond order for “Donald John Trump,” which includes a bond amount of $200,000.
“The Defendant shall not violate the laws of this State, the laws of any other state, the laws of the United States of America, or any other local laws,” the order reads.
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But it also more specifically states: “The Defendant shall perform no act to intimidate any person known to him or her to be a codefendant or witness in this case or to otherwise obstruct the administration of justice.”
Trump “shall make no direct or indirect threat of any nature against any codefendant,” or “victim” or “against the community or to any property in the community.”
“The Defendant shall make no direct or indirect threat of any nature against any witness including, but not limited to, the individuals designated in the Indictment as an unindicated co-conspirators Individual 1 through Individual 30.”
It also specifies: “The above shall include, but are not limited to, posts on social media or reposts of posts made by another individual on social media.”
Trump is also ordered to “not communicate in any way, directly or indirectly, about the facts of this case with any person known to him to be a codefendant in this case except through his or her counsel.”
Despite Trump’s previous attacks against prosecutors, including the District Attorney prosecuting this case, Fani Willis, the order does not appear to specifically direct him to not intimidate officers of the court.
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Politico’s Kyle Cheney observes these restrictions “are more voluminous than the ones [John] Eastman was given.” He also names two other co-defendants, and adds, “Only Trump so far has explicit and expanded witness intimidation restrictions.” Eastman is known as the author or the “coup memo.”
Former Dept. of Defense Special Counsel Ryan Goodman points out the judge’s order “Explicitly includes re-posting social media posts by others.”
MSNBC legal analyst, professor of law, and former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance adds, “$200,000 is a significant bond for someone with 24/7 Secret Service protection which means the risk he’ll disappear before trial is virtually nil.”
But professor of law and political scientist Anthony Michael Kreis notes, “The language in Trump’s consent bond agreement is sweeping and vague— I don’t know why his lawyers wouldn’t want more specificity given their client’s penchant for attacking anyone on a whim and the fact he’s running for president.”
MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin appears to agree.
“Among the conditions of Trump’s release in GA are his obligation to make no ‘direct or indirect threat of any nature,’ whether through his own social media posts, reposts, or otherwise, against any co-defendant or witness in the GA case–or *any* victim or even ‘against the community,'” she writes, quoting the order.
“But who counts as a victim, especially given that the wording is not limited to ‘victim in this case’? And what about the community? Who is a member of the community against which Trump may not make direct or indirect threats?” she asks, before adding: “Given that Trump’s bond order was negotiated and agreed upon by both sides, these are questions I would have expected his counsel to ask and insist either on more clarity/more precise language.”
Watch MSNBC’s breaking news report on the judge’s order below or at this link.