Amid Trump Jail Risk, a Look at How That May Play Out

Donald Trump keeps testing the limits of his gag order, and Judge Juan Merchan keeps threatening serious consequences if he doesn't stop. But might a former president really end up behind bars on contempt charges? A look at the consequences if it comes to that:

• One option: Merchan could put Trump in a holding cell within the Manhattan courthouse in what amounts to a "time out" for about an hour, reports NBC News. The story quotes two attorneys who think this is the most likely option should Merchan go the jail route.

• More serious: Merchan also could order Trump for a longer stay of a day or more at, say, Rikers, reports the Daily Beast. (That's where former Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg is serving his five-month stint for perjury.) If the security logistics at Rikers are too daunting, authorities could place Trump on a "decommissioned jail barge" near Rikers or perhaps in a federal detention center near the courthouse.
• Logistics: The New York Times reported last month that the Secret Service has been planning the "logistical nightmare." Agents would be armed despite firearms restrictions in prisons, and they'd have to keep him separated from other prisoners, screen his prison food (which likely would not be to his liking), rotate details in and out of the prison 24-7, etc. ABC News also reports that Secret Service officials have started planning, not just for a short contempt stay but for a longer incarceration should Trump be convicted in his hush-money trial.
• The odds: Still, it's "highly unlikely" Merchan puts Trump behind bars for contempt, former New York City Department of Corrections Commissioner Martin Horn tells the Daily Beast. "Any defendant, 77 years old, with no prior criminal convictions—a nonviolent crime, not addicted to drugs, not likely to commit another crime—it would not be appropriate to send him to jail, even though the statute permits it." On the other hand, Merchan has held Trump in contempt 10 times and vows jail is a possibility, even if it is the "last thing" he wants to do.

(On Tuesday, Trump had to listen to Stormy Daniels recount their alleged tryst.)