Former President Donald Trump and Judge Juan Merchan's clash over a gag order in his hush money trial amounts to a criminal courthouse "game of chicken" that could have dire consequences, one reporter said Monday.
Speaking to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on Monday, Washington Post reporter Devin Barrett reminded viewers Trump has repeatedly violated the gag order in his ongoing trial in Manhattan criminal court, where he faces 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments.
Barrett compared Trump's current gag order to one imposed in the $83.3 million defamation lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll in New York civil court earlier this year.
"There really isn't the threat of incarceration in a civil case the way there is in a criminal case," Barrett said. "There is a game of chicken going on here."
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Barrett contends that this ongoing battle may have emotional undertones, it represents a strategic conflict between two opponents with set agendas.
"[It's] a very tactical, strategic game of chicken between these two sides as Trump tries to see what he can get away with, and the judge keeps trying to draw a line and say no further than this," Barrett said.
Wallace wondered aloud if such a game of chicken would push Trump to testify and try and tell his side of the story.
She then recalled special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, noting Trump kept saying he wanted to talk to Mueller but never did.
"It's such a high-stakes gamble for any defendant to take the stand," Barrett replied. "It's particularly a high-stakes gamble for this defendant to take the stand in this case. So, I think Trump is going to play it coy and sort of dangle the possibility right up till the very end."
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