Battenfeld: Gagging Trump a risky gambit for Democrats | CPT PPP Coverage

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Gagging Donald Trump with a court order preventing him from speaking out is a risky gambit for Democrats and prosecutors.

The strategy could be a bridge too far – especially if the former president violates the order and is locked up. That happens routinely in dictatorships but not here.

Trump – who is back in New Hampshire today – might actually benefit from Democrats trying to put him in prison, confirming his supporters’ worst fears that he is being persecuted by politically motivated judges and prosecutors.

If the strategy is to weaken him and run against him they may be mistaken. Saddling him with so much legal baggage, could Trump survive?

The Constitution does not prevent someone from running for president after being convicted of crimes. In fact, two presidential candidates, Eugene Debbs in 1920 and Lyndon LaRouche, have run for office while serving jail time, though neither came close to winning.

But if Trump wins the election against Joe Biden while jailed, don’t be too surprised – it’s been done before.

Boston’s notorious James Michael Curley was elected Boston Alderman in 1904 while serving a sentence for fraud, winning the election by 1,200 votes after his supporters demonstrated in the streets. Decades later Curley was treated as a hero by supporters and won the mayor’s office while under federal indictment for mail fraud. He refused to step down after he was sentenced to federal prison.

The attempted gag order against Trump sought by prosecutors could also work in the former president’s favor if it’s seen as a way for Democrats to muzzle him during his campaign.

And while Trump may be gagged, his opponents are definitely not. Democrats are now gloating about all the indictments against Trump.

“The indictments against the president are exquisite,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told New York magazine. “They’re beautiful and intricate, and they probably have a better chance of conviction than anything that I would come up with.”

Pelosi also scoffed at the notion of Trump winning the election again.

“Don’t even think about that,” she said. “If he were to be president, it would be a criminal enterprise in the White House.”

Trump for his part also elevated his feud with Pelosi, calling her in a post a “sick and demented Psycho who will someday live in HELL.”