Trump’s ‘narcissism’ might land him in jail, contends ex-White House lawyer

Former White House lawyer Ty Cobb on Monday said former President Donald Trump’s “narcissism” could put him behind bars.

“I don’t think his first or second violation of the gag order will find him sent to jail, but I think ultimately his narcissism will get the best of him,” Mr. Cobb said on CNN. “And he will violate it until he finds out what the limits of Judge [Tanya] Chutkan’s patience are.”

Mr. Cobb, who served as a lawyer in the Trump administration, predicts the court will maintain the judge’s limited gag order in Mr. Trump’s federal case in Washington regarding his effort to overturn the 2020 election.

Mr. Cobb agreed with CNN host Erin Burnett when she suggested Mr. Trump could spend a night or two in jail if he keeps violating the gag order.

“I think that’s exactly right,” he said.

In a comment to The Washington Times, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said, “Who’s Ty Cobb?”

The gag order was to stop Mr. Trump and his lawyers from bashing special counsel Jack Smith and his team, along with the prosecutors, witnesses and others involved in the case. The order is temporarily suspended until the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rules whether it violates the former president’s First Amendment rights.

The appeals court’s three judges weighed in on the gag order Monday, suggesting it might’ve gone too far in restricting the former president’s speech. It’s unclear whether the order will be rewritten by the panel or sent back to Judge Chutkan.

The judges, all Democrats, asked the attorneys different questions while trying to decide the fate of the gag order.

“The judges were frustrated with both sides a little bit today because of the vagaries of, you know, their interpretation of the order and the arguments that they were making,” Mr. Cobb said.

He said that the panel will need to use a “scalpel skillfully to demonstrate what target or targeting actually means and what areas of speech are actually circumscribed by the need to avoid undermining the integrity of the judicial process.”