Trump's gag order partially lifted, allowing him to talk about witnesses — but not DA Bragg's team
On Tuesday, Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan lifted part of his gag order against Donald Trump, allowing the former president to make public remarks about the witnesses in the New York trial.
Trump is still prohibited from speaking about the staff and families of Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, theNew York Post reported.
'Blatantly un-American.'
Trump's legal team has repeatedly requested that Merchan lift the restrictive gag order, arguing that it would impede Trump's speech during the upcoming presidential debate with Joe Biden on Thursday evening. Merchan previously rejected multiple attempts during the trial to get the order lifted, claiming that it protected those involved in the case.
In May, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records filed against the former president by Bragg. The jurors' verdict was based on the testimony of witnesses including porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Trump attorney Michael Cohen.
Throughout the trial, Cohen frequently publicly criticized Trump on social media, while the former president was prohibited from defending himself due to Merchan's gag order. At one point, Trump's attorneys also asked for a gag order to be placed on Cohen, but the judge rejected that request as well.
The order against Trump still bars him from criticizing Merchan's daughter, Loren, who works at a progressive political consulting firm. Additionally, Trump cannot speak about Bragg's team, including one of his lead prosecutors, Matthew Colangelo, who previously held a senior role in the Biden administration's Department of Justice before effectively accepting a demotion to join the Manhattan DA's office.
Trump was fined $10,000 during the trial after Merchan ruled that he violated the gag order 10 times.
Last week, New York's highest court, the New York State Court of Appeals, declined to hear an appeal from Trump's attorneys, who argued that the gag order restricts his "core political speech on matters of central importance at the height of his Presidential campaign" and "violates the fundamental right of every American voter to hear from the leading candidate for President,"Blaze News previously reported. The court wrote in its rejection that "no substantial constitutional question is directly involved."
Trump is slated to be sentenced in the New York case on July 11. His attorneys have stated they plan to appeal the jury's guilty verdict.
On Tuesday, Steven Cheung, Trump's campaign spokesperson, called Merchan a "highly conflicted judge" who made "another unlawful decision" that is "blatantly un-American as it gags President Trump, the leading candidate in the 2024 presidential election during the upcoming presidential debate."
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