All posts tagged "Gag Order"

Former President Donald Trump caught a break this week when New York Judge Juan Merchan partially lifted the gag order from the Manhattan hush money case, which saw the former president convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records.

But to hear it from former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner on his "Justice Matters" show, "there is a silver lining to this one" for those fearful of the danger Trump poses.

"On the one hand, yes, that is very concerning because we fear for the witnesses and the jurors and others, because we know what Trump is not only capable of, but what he often does with his reckless, violence-inducing rhetoric and posts about everybody who's trying to hold him accountable for his crimes ... but on the other hand, it really is in accordance with the law."...

Former President Donald Trump, and some people in his orbit, have taken to demanding to know why his former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen has not been subject to a gag order in the Manhattan criminal hush money case, whereas Trump has.

But it doesn't really work that way, legal expert Lisa Rubin explained to MSNBC's Joy Reid, in a panel alongside former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, for a couple of reasons.

"Judge [Juan] Merchan made that point when this was raised, saying, I don't have power over all of the United States," said Weissmann. "You are a defendant. That is why there is a gag order. And so that is the critical difference. Also, just to be clear, nothing about that gag order prevents Donald Trump from making any and all claims about Joseph Biden, his administration, talking about politics. He can even, and has, attacked the judge and the lead prosecutor, the D.A. So this idea that it's like, you can run for office and not engage in attacking jurors and witnesses. Shocker."
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New York Judge Juan Merchan refused a motion by former President Donald Trump's attorneys to amend the gag order against the former president on Thursday afternoon, reported MSNBC's Adam Klasfeld.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche argued that the former president should be allowed to "respond publicly" to adult film star Stormy Daniels, a key witness in the Manhattan hush money case, now that she has already delivered her testimony. But Merchan said he simply could not trust that the former president would respond in a civil way and not engage in further witness intimidation.

"That's just not the track record," said Merchan, adding, "Your client's track record speaks for itself."...

While Donald Trump fumes about his "conflicted" hush money judge's "unconstitutional" gag order — he appears to be struggling to comprehend the meaning of the word "testify."

This was on display when he appeared after Thursday's trial to rail yet again against the formal edict to keep his mouth shut when it comes to comments about jurors, witnesses, court staff, and kin. But this time he added a twist: the gag order now appears to have become so powerful it is forbidding him from answering questions under oath on the witness stand.

"I'm not allowed to testify," crowed former President Donald Trump in the corridor of 100 Centre Street courtroom. "I'm under a gag order. Right?" ...

Former President Donald Trump again tried to talk smack about the people involved in his criminal trial in Manhattan during an interview on the far-right Newsmax channel, when interviewer Greg Kelly cut him off for his own legal safety.

The former president faces charges of felony business fraud, for allegedly arranging hush payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels to conceal a reputed affair between them from voters in the 2016 presidential election. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has claimed this was effectively an election interference scheme; Trump denies any wrongdoing and still does not acknowledge the affair even happened at all.

"You have crime all over the place [in New York], violent crime," Trump raged. "And they've got 20 prosecutors and people from that office sitting there—"...

Former President Donald Trump has boxed himself into a serious disadvantage in his Manhattan criminal trial with his constant violations of Judge Juan Merchan's orders, former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori told CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday.

This comes after Trump spoke about the first witness at trial, his former ally and National Enquirer boss David Pecker, who described how he orchestrated "catch and kill" schemes to protect Trump during the 2016 election, similar to the purpose of his alleged business fraud to conceal the hush payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump claimed Pecker has been a "nice" person so far — although Manhattan prosecutors argue this was a veiled threat and a violation of the former president's gag order.

"Now, it sounds innocent enough to maybe some people," said Tapper. "But the prosecutor said, today, quote, 'This is a message to Pecker: be nice.'"...