Adams Says New York City Is Prepared If Trump Is Sent to Jail in ‘Hush Money’ Case

Mayor Adams says that New York City is prepared in case President Trump is sent to jail, whether it’s due to a conviction or repeated violation of a gag order.Mr. Adams told reporters Tuesday that the Department of Correction “is prepared for whatever comes on Rikers Island,” an allusion to the possibility that Mr. Trump could be detained. He added that the commissioner “would be prepared to manage and deal with the situation.”“As you see what’s happening with Harvey Weinstein, we have to just you know, in this business, particularly around law enforcement, we have to adjust whatever comes our way,” Mr. Adams said. “We don’t want to deal with a hypothetical, but they’re professionals that will be ready.”Mr. Adams’s comments come shortly after Mr. Trump was once again found in contempt of court for violating his gag order with repeated attacks on court staff, prosecutors, and their families.Mr. Trump has so far been found to have violated the limited gag order 10 times and has been fined a total of $10,000 for his violations. Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case, made it clear that he was giving Mr. Trump special consideration due to his being the former and potentially future president, but that jail remained an option if the former president refuses to follow the court’s order.“It appears that the $1,000 fines are not serving as a deterrent,” Judge Merchan told Mr. Trump Monday. “The last thing I want to do is to put you in jail. You are the former president of the United States, and possibly the next president as well. There are many reasons why incarceration is truly a last resort for you.”Judge Merchan added, “The magnitude of such a decision is not lost on me. But at the end of the day, I have a job to do.”If Mr. Trump was sent to jail for his repeated attacks on court staff and their families, he could be sent to New York City’s largest, Rikers Island, where some 31 people awaiting trial have died during Mr. Adams’s tenure as mayor.As it stands there are about 6,000 people awaiting trial at Rikers Island, which is situated in the East River at the Bronx. So far, it looks like both the court and prosecutors are willing to go to lengths to avoid potentially sending Mr. Trump to jail. On Thursday last week prosecutors said they were “not yet seeking jail” as a penalty for Mr. Trump.Judge Merchan has also alluded to a “preferable” solution to Mr. Trump’s repeated defiance of the court, suggesting that the court “could impose a fine more commensurate with the wealth of the contemnor.”“In some cases that might be a $2,500 fine, in other cases it might be a fine of $150,000. Because this Court is not cloaked with such discretion, it must therefore consider whether in some instances, jail may be a necessary punishment,” Judge Merchan said.

Adams Says New York City Is Prepared If Trump Is Sent to Jail in ‘Hush Money’ Case

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