Weissmann: Trump ‘Could Be Looking at Jail’ if Convicted in Hush Money Case

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Weissmann said Tuesday on CNN’s “Situation Room” that former President Donald Trump could get jail time if convicted in the New York “hush money” case.

Host Wolf Blitzer asked, “If Trump were to be convicted in this case, what kind of penalty potentially could he be looking at?”

Weissmann said, “He could be looking at jail. This is one where the judge I think is going to be looking at the rule of law to see how other people were treated, other people with a similar criminal background. I think this is an area where Donald Trump’s pretrial behavior is going to be relevant.”

He added, “If you have someone who’s contrite, if you have someone who shares that he’s respectful of the rule of law, that this was an aberration, that is something that the court can take into account. But if you think that the defendant actually is running basically as an outlaw and is basically thumbing his nose at the judicial process and shows no sign of remorse and essentially is a recidivist, those are factors that a judge can consider. And I am sure that a judge like Judge Merchan – if there were to be a conviction – is going to factor all of that in. But it’s just way too soon to say whether it would actually constitute jail time.”

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