Andrew Weissman is a well-respected attorney who served as special counselor Robert Mueller’s top lieutenant and on Sunday he said that while Donald Trump may not have violated a gag order connected to his New York hush-money trial, he may still be held accountable for sharing a video online of the tailgate of a supporter’s pickup truck that displays an illustration of a bound and gagged President Joe Biden.

This is disgusting and I probably don’t have to tell you why this is scary. Trump has too many supporters who may take this seriously.

Weissmann, who is also a legal analyst for MSNBC, joined Katie Phang on Sunday and the discussion centered around Trump’s online posts about Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan’s daughter. While Weissman posited that the gag order didn’t specifically cover Judge Merchan and his family, he noted the ex-president may have violated the conditions of his bail, based on the video that he shared last week about Biden, according to Law&Crime.

“A standard condition of being out on bail — and this applies in New York, it applies in the D.C. federal case, it applies in the Georgia state case — is that you not commit a crime while you are out on bail,” Weissmann said, then added: “Well, you know what, threatening the president of the United States is a crime.”

But, the “legal and factual question” would be whether the image of Biden “bound and gagged with what appears to be a bullet hole in his head” constitutes a threat, Weissman said.

Yikes.
On #GoodFriday Trump posted an image on Truth Social of Biden bound with rope in the back of a pick up truck. How many ways does this guy have to tell you what his plans are? Never forget Trump tried to have his own VP killed on January 6. pic.twitter.com/nApTiGc1dB

— Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) March 30, 2024

Phang asked if Trump has “crossed [the] line of plausible deniability” by claiming that he is simply exercising his First Amendment rights.

“That might have been plausible the first time or the second time that he did this, but when you see that you have this repeated call and response effect you can’t just keep saying ‘Oh, I just called and they responded, I was shocked,’” Weissmann said, arguing a judge could call a hearing to probe Trump’s intent.

The noted attorney cited January 6 and said that Trump definitely knows by now that his posts can provoke his supporters to violence.

He took this a step further Thursday in a post on X, calling on the courts to “act” (to revoke Trump’s bail, in other words).

“Trump is out on bail in 4 criminal cases. He posted a photo of the president bound, gagged, and shot. Threatening a president is a federal crime and also a violation of bail release conditions,” he said. “Time for courts to act.”

BREAKING: Trump is out on bail in 4 criminal cases. He posted a photo of the president bound, gagged, and shot. Threatening a president is a federal crime and also a violation of bail release conditions. Time for courts to act. https://t.co/2FTABCDuf7

— Andrew Weissmann (weissmann11 on Threads)🌻 (@AWeissmann_) March 30, 2024

Harvard Law Professor Emeritus Laurence Tribe, responded with a slightly different take, saying it was “unclear” if the post constituted a “true threat” under the law, specifically 18 U.S. Code § 871, which makes it a crime to “knowingly and willfully” threaten a president. However, Tribe said he does think it’s time for the FBI to visit Trump.

“In all seriousness, under existing law it’s unclear whether posting on Truth Social a picture of POTUS tied up and shot in the head in a moving truck under the present circumstances amounts to a true threat under Sec. 871,” he said. “But no question it warrants an FBI visit and a warning.”

In all seriousness, under existing law it’s unclear whether posting on Truth Social a picture of POTUS tied up and shot in the head in a moving truck under the present circumstances amounts to a true threat under Sec. 871. But no question it warrants an FBI visit and a warning. https://t.co/h06hnzfS8J

— Laurence Tribe 🇺🇦 ⚖️ (@tribelaw) April 1, 2024

Responding to Weissman, a Trump spokesperson said that the veteran prosecutor and MSNBC legal analyst is suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

It’s typical for the Trump camp to blow off serious situations like this. Trump’s bail should be revoked. If any of us pulled the stunts this monster is pulling we’d be behind bars ASAP. No questions asked. If his supporters take him too seriously, violence could be the result.