Days after a New York judge expanded a gag order on Donald Trump to curtail “inflammatory” speech, the former president tested its limits by disparaging two key witnesses in his upcoming criminal hush money trial as liars.
Quick Read
- Donald Trump criticized Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels on Truth Social, calling them “liars” and “sleaze bags,” which may test the limits of a gag order imposed by Judge Juan Merchan in his upcoming hush money trial.
- The gag order, revised on April 1, prohibits Trump from making public statements about probable trial witnesses and their involvement in the investigation or criminal proceedings, though it allows for responses to political attacks.
- The order also restricts statements about jurors, court staff, lawyers, and relatives of prosecutors or the judge, but permits critiques of the judge himself and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.
- Legal experts are divided on whether Trump’s post violates the gag order, with some seeing it as a “close call” unlikely to lead to contempt charges, while others view it as a direct breach targeting the credibility of key witnesses.
- Trump and his legal team argue the gag order infringes on his free speech rights, particularly as he campaigns for the presidency.
- Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen have both reported harassment from Trump’s supporters, attributed to his public criticisms, raising concerns about potential jury bias and witness intimidation.
The Associated Press has the story:
Trump tests limits of gag order with post insulting 2 witnesses in criminal trial
Newslooks- NEW YORK (AP) —
Days after a New York judge expanded a gag order on Donald Trump to curtail “inflammatory” speech, the former president tested its limits by disparaging two key witnesses in his upcoming criminal hush money trial as liars.
In a post on his Truth Social platform Wednesday, Trump called his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, and the adult film actor Stormy Daniels “two sleaze bags who have, with their lies and misrepresentations, cost our Country dearly!”
In an order first made in March, and then revised on April 1, Judge Juan Merchan barred Trump from making public statements about probable trial witnesses “concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding.”
Merchan’s order didn’t give specific examples of what types of statements about witnesses were banned. He noted the order was not intended to prevent the former president from responding to political attacks.
The gag order also barred Trump from making public statements of any type about jurors, court staff, lawyers in the case or relatives of prosecutors or of the judge. Trump is allowed to make critical comments about the judge himself and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
It was unclear whether the judge might consider Trump’s criticism of Cohen and Daniels a violation of the gag order.
Both are expected to testify in the trial, which involves allegations that Trump falsified business records at his company to disguise the true nature of payments made to Cohen to reimburse him for a $130,000 payoff made to Daniels. The payment, Cohen says, was intended to keep Daniels from talking publicly about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump that the Republican says never happened.
Gregory Germain, a professor at Syracuse University College of Law, described the latest post as a “close call” unlikely to result in Trump being held in contempt.
“I suspect he’d argue that he criticized their general character, and was not commenting on their ‘potential participation’ in the investigation or proceeding,” Germain said.
But Stephen Gillers, a professor at New York University Law School, said Trump’s comment “brands the two witnesses as liars, which goes to the heart of what the order forbids.”
“That’s exactly what a gag order doesn’t want you to do before trial when a potential jury could be influenced,” he said.
Trump and his attorneys have said the gag order violates his free speech rights and prevents him from responding to public attacks as he runs for president.
Daniels has spoken out about harassment she’s received from the former president’s supporters, who she said were “encouraged and commended” by Trump.
In a text message Thursday, Cohen said the attacks were meant to “prejudice the jury’s opinion of a key witness; namely me.”
