Former Justice Department official explains why Trump’s gag order is ‘like failing kindergarten’ Ex-DOJ official explains why Trump’s gag order is ‘like failing kindergarten’

Judge Arthur Engoron slapped Trump with the order on Tuesday after the former president attacked Engoron’s clerk on social media. Engoron warned Trump that he would face “serious sanctions” if he violated the order.

It’s “really hard to enforce gag orders in a case,” Katyal told MSNBC’s Alex Wagner on Tuesday, because people “use common sense” in a lawsuit against her.

“It’s like failing kindergarten,” he said. “To enforce a silence order, you have to try somehow. Trump managed to work at it, do it and succeed. But it took a lot of work for him.”

Wagner asked how likely it was that Trump would violate the order.

The former president will “almost certainly” break it, Katyal said. “He is more likely to violate the gag order than almost anything else.”

Then, he said, the judge will have to decide how Trump will be punished — either by another warning, a fine or even a prison sentence, Katyal said.

“Trump is a kind of Voldemort figure who essentially gains his strength by attacking institutions,” he added. “We would already see severe sanctions for anyone else involved in the process.”