Ex-judge puts Trump on notice that he is 'dancing on the line' with recent jury comments
How many strikes will New York Judge Juan Merchan permit until he turns the screws on defendant Donald Trump's suspected violation of a gag order?
Ret. Judge Jill Konviser, who served on the benches in both Manhattan and Brooklyn courts, suggested former President Donald Trump has been treated with kid gloves compared to others accused of crimes.
"I think he's given an amazing amount of leeway and in that sense, you know we hear Trump talking about him being treated differently," she said during an appearance on CNN, regarding Merchan's patience and tolerance with Trump after two days of trial. "He's getting a benefit here because the judge is not holding his feet to the fire."
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Konviser believes Merchan is trying to be even handed "to move this case forward" and because he "doesn't want any more stops."
She suspects the clock is ever present for Merchan and so he "wants to get it over with."
Prosecutors for District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office are angling to hit Trump with $1,000 sanctions for each of the three gag order violations they say Trump is responsible for.
But Konviser believes Trump has been going too far.
In fact, on Wednesday Trump quoted on Truth Social Fox News anchor Jesse Watters who said: “They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury."
This particular post for Konviser is hard to not see as a violation.
She said that Trump is "dancing on the line crossing the line" to add to his "tango lesson" last week with previous posts.
"So I think the judge would be well within his rights to make that call now," she said, noting that Merchan has to be prudent to prevent a mistrial. "But what does it get him at the end of the day, we still want to get through this as quickly as possible."