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.
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.
Why 20? Why not 50, or 500? Why not let him stage a coup and attempt to overthrow the government of the United States of America? Oh right, he already did all that stuff and is still walking free.
The thing is that the prosecutors have to play by the rules to get him, which takes time, but recently the claws definitely seems to be closing in on him, and the prosecutors have bemig weapons and trump can’t stop the system.
Right now it’s like a tank going very slowly toward Trump, sure it takes time but if the tank operator does everything right, it will get there eventually.
I feel like the whole “the jaws of justice are slowly closing around trump” comment is the narrative version of that looping gif of the truck almost running into the bollard. Academically, I agree with you. But I’m pretty sure the dude is going to be dead from one of the innumerable heath issues he faces before he sees any real consequence. Time will tell I guess, but like others, I’m not holding my breath. If there were any real justice in the world, trump would have died from Covid. That would have at least been poetic justice for his role in that colossal tragedy.
And allowing witnesses to be intimidated is like allowing trump to have a Javelin in your tank analogy. For the cases to be prosecuted correctly, the necessary witnesses need to give their testimony without fear of retaliation. He needs to be put into pre-trail detainment.
We need to wait until it’s normalized.
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.
So is he
Quote from January 2016:
“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters,”
The Bat-shit crazy right would praise him for flexing his second amendment rights.
The feds move slowly, but they have their teeth into him now.
Beau Of The Fifth Column has been pretty much nothing but diving into how fucked Trump is, finally, for a few months.
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.
This is a state-level case, so it would be Georgia’s criminal code that would apply, not Federal
serious question, is it possible the judge is literally scared for their life if they do this? the first judge that actually stands up and applies the actual law will be praised by people globally, but become a target for millions of MAGA idiots overnight
LOL, no one, absolutely no one should be surprised by this. Trump has never been in the same room with consequences, Trump has never been in the same zip code as consequences. Trump will continue to do as he pleases until the day he faces consequences. If that day never comes, prepare to eat Trump shit until the day he dies.
I hate this, but it’s so true.
Under Georgia law it is a felony with a minimum of two, maximum of ten years in prison plus a maximum of $20,000 in fines.
Cool. Too bad they’ll ignore it no matter how many times he does it.
I would guess that since charges haven’t actually been filed, he’s going to be in the clear for this one.
Just throw him away, please.
I’m just so tired of him. Who wants more of this bullshit?
90% of white evangelicals in America to start with.
So…Trump did nothing wrong, but he’s telling a witness not to testify to his not-wrongdoing. Got it.
“You can’t arrest me for robbing the bank. I hardly know the people who work there.”
For real though, my money is on GA Governor (republican) pardoning him for all these charges, in the name of “unity” or similar bullshit.
The governor of Georgia doesn’t have pardon power. From a recent article in the Journal-Constitution:
Should Trump be convicted of crimes in Fulton, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp would have no authority in granting a pardon. Georgia is one of only six states in which a board, operating independently of the governor, makes the decisions. Here, it’s the secretive State Board of Pardons and Paroles whose five members are appointed by the governor.
Georgia’s current system was created by constitutional amendment in 1943 after former Gov. E.D. Rivers was indicted on corruption charges, including accusations that he sold pardons.
To be considered for a pardon, a person must first complete all prison sentences at least five years before applying, have lived a “law-abiding life” in the intervening years, have no pending charges against them and have paid all their fines in full.
and have paid all their fines in full.
Oh thank God, we’re safe
Georgia passed a law allowing them to remove DAs instead. :(
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/05/georgia-brian-kemp-bill-remove-local-prosecutors
Georgia law doesn’t allow for pardons by the Governor.
I’m not sure which I find more irritating. Witness tampering or media orgs calling Twitter “X.”
It should only ever be referred to as “X, formerly known as Twitter”. Much like Prince changing his name, this is a bad move for branding, though I suppose Prince didn’t give a fuck about that!
Prince changed his name due to conflict with production companies. It was more done in protest as they were retaining so much of the revenue he brought in.
I prefer “Twitter, which Elon Musk refers to as X”
“Twitter, which Elon Musk rebranded as X with an estimated cost of $20 billion”
“…until today. But he’ll lose the rest as well probably.”
They should simply do a Prince, call it ‘the social media site formerly known as twitter’ and not mention X at all.
Just twitter is fine. You don’t have to do what an insane billionaire wants.
I still don’t call Facebook “meta”. I always suspected they changed the name in the first place because of the negative press Facebook was getting
Same with Google. I don’t call them Alphabet.
TIL that’s a real thing and not some weird nickname people were giving to Google. Yeah, im going to call them that either.
But isn’t the product Facebook still called Facebook? It’s the name of the holding company that changed.
It’s still all Facebook to me.
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.
Ah yes witness tampering. Completely legal. Its just so great to live in a world where there are no double standards lmao /s
Why is this idiot not remanded. This country is a laughing stock.
He hasn’t been indicted for this one yet.
I see the phone timeout is working.
Apparently witnesses who were supposed to testify tomorrow are being called today
Something is definitely coming
well, that should do it, judge has every signal he’s not going to stop, this should put him in jail.
maybe trump wants the fight about jailing him for witness intimidation/“mah freeaaa speekin” rather than the fight over whether or not he intimidated election officials, stole top secret documents, fraudulently diverted campaign funding and fomented a violent civil insurrection
I kinda think he wants to go to jail?? I dont see how that helps him in an election scenario, but maybe its sinking in deeper and deeper for him that he will not get to that point, the feds will have him in jail before 2024. So maybe his play is to get his insane cult so riled over him being in prison up that thousand of them sacrifice their lives in some kind of futile suicide kooaide style ending to all this?
Well, if that wouldn’t be several thousand problems solving themselves…
This is the Georgia case, hasn’t gone to a judge yet. Indictment is supposed to happen any time between now and 9/1.
See my “You Are Here” reply under another comment.
