Manhattan DA and Trump lawyer go on offense over gag order- The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office (DA) has accused Donald Trump of violating a gag order in his hush-money criminal case by attacking the judge’s daughter and making false claims about her on social media.
The DA’s office has asked Judge Juan M. Merchan to clarify or confirm the scope of the gag order, which was issued on March 26, and to direct Trump to immediately desist from attacks on family members.
In a letter to Merchan, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass argued that the gag order’s ban on statements meant to interfere with or harass the court’s staff or their families makes the judge’s daughter off-limits from Trump’s rhetoric. He emphasized that Trump should be punished for further violations.
Trump, however, has defended his actions, claiming that his gag order was “illegal, un-American, unConstitutional” and that Judge Merchan was wrongfully attempting to deprive him of his First Amendment Right to speak out against the weaponization of law enforcement by Democratic rivals.
The gag order bars Trump from making or directing other people to make public statements on his behalf about jurors or potential witnesses in the hush-money trial, such as his lawyer turned nemesis Michael Cohen and porn star Stormy Daniels. It also prohibits any statements meant to interfere with or harass the court’s staff, prosecution team, or their families. Despite this, Trump is free to criticize Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the elected Democrat whose office is prosecuting Trump, but Steinglass wants his family off limits, too.
Trump’s lawyers have argued against any such warnings, citing constitutional concerns about restricting Trump’s speech further while he’s campaigning for president and fighting criminal charges.
They contended that the DA’s office is misinterpreting the order and that it doesn’t prohibit him from commenting about Loren Merchan, a political consultant whose firm has worked on campaigns for Trump’s rival, President Joe Biden, and other Democrats. They argued that the court cannot ‘direct’ President Trump to do something that the gag order does not require and that to ‘clarify or confirm’ the meaning of the gag order in the way the People suggest would be to expand it.
The trial, which involves allegations Trump falsified payment records in a scheme to cover up negative stories during his 2016 presidential campaign, is scheduled to begin on April 15. Trump denies wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.
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