'Pernicious': Legal experts explain how Trump is testing the limits of his gag order
A newly strengthened gag order prevents former President Donald Trump from disparaging court staff, jurors, witnesses, and now family of the judge and prosecutor.
But Trump may have found a loophole around it and former prosecutor Lisa Rubin is disgusted.
"The order itself says you can't make or direct others to make statements," Rubin said while appearing on MSNBC's "The 11th Hour." "And so semantics are our lifeblood as lawyers; we parse words for a living. Donald Trump is figuring out how he can exploit any minor loophole and then doing exactly that, and that is pernicious... and dangerous."
In his ruling, New York Judge Juan Merchan fortified a gag order to protect witnesses, prosecutors, jurors and court staff from Trump's salvos. But it needed to be fortified after the former president declared Merchan's daughter, who works as a Democratic political consultant, was fair game to disparage.
So now Trump is forbidden from speaking of Merchan and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's family members.
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One day later, it appears Trump isn't phased, having reposted on Truth Social a blog entry by Trump supporter Laura Loomer that tried to map out the connective tissue of Merchan's wife, who was at one point under the employ of New York Attorney General Letitia James.
But Rubin believes that while it's unknown if it's going to be interpreted by Merchan as a breach of the gag order, it is no less abhorrent.
That's because the rhetoric, she believes, has already inspired others to act.
Specifically, Rubin pointed to a man in Lancaster, Pennsylvania who on Monday allegedly sent threats to AG James and Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who presided and ruled against the former president in his costly civil fraud case.
Erie County District Attorney’s Office accused 26-year-old Tyler Vogel of sending text messages to inflict “physical harm or death” to each of them if they did not comply with his request to cease action in a “high-profile civil case.”
"The consequences of Donald Trump's threats are real," Rubin said.