Judge Juan Merchan adjusted the gag order he slapped on former President Donald Trump before his hush money trial.
A jury found him guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business regarding a payment to Stormy Daniels to stay quiet about a supposed affair.
Merchan’s gag order barred Trump from making or directing others to make public statements about witnesses with regard to their potential participation or about counsel in the case – other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg – or about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff.Merchan on Tuesday partially lifted the gag order because the trial has concluded.Trump is now able to speak about protected witnesses and jurors.
Some topics remain off-limits:
Steven Cheung, Trump campaign spokesperson, said in a statement Tuesday, “Today’s order by Acting Justice Merchan leaves in place portions of the unconstitutional Gag Order, preventing President Trump from speaking freely about Judge Merchan’s disqualifying conflicts and the overwhelming evidence exposing this whole Crooked Joe Biden – directed Witch Hunt.””This is another unlawful decision by a highly conflicted judge, which is blatantly un-American as it gags President Trump, the leading candidate in the 2024 Presidential Election during the upcoming Presidential Debate on Thursday. President Trump and his legal team will immediately challenge today’s unconstitutional order.”
Merchan ordered the gag order on February 22.
Trump’s team challenged it on March 4, but a Court of Appeals upheld it twice. The judges said it did not violate the First Amendment since Merchan “properly weighed against the court’s historical commitment to ensuring the fair administration of justice in criminal cases, and the right of persons related to tangentially related to the criminal proceedings from being free from threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm.”
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