Former President Donald Trump leaves his apartment building in New York, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File).
Former President Donald Trump appears to have violated the terms of the gag order in his New York City hush-money criminal case, lashing out at a former ally who is expected to testify on behalf of the prosecution.
“Has disgraced attorney and felon Michael Cohen been prosecuted for LYING?” Trump wrote in a post to his Truth Social media platform on Saturday.
Although Cohen, who once worked as Trump’s fixer, served time in federal prison for his role in trying to cover up payments to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election, he has not, in fact, been prosecuted for apparently lying under oath about having committed tax evasion. As Law&Crime has previously reported, Cohen is expected to be a witness at the looming trial, which is set to start with jury selection on Monday.
via Truth Social
Trump’s direct naming of Cohen appears to be a direct violation of New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan’s latest gag order, which ordered the ex-president to “refrain” from “making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses,” jurors, court staff, and staff of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Trump was also barred from attacking the “family members of any counsel, staff member, the Court or the District Attorney, if those statements are made with the intent to materially interfere with, or cause others to materially interfere” with their work.
Neither Merchan nor Bragg were covered by the gag order, so it’s likely that Trump’s statement that “[o]nly TRUMP people get prosecuted by this Judge” isn’t a violation, although the addition of “these thugs” leaves room for interpretation.
Cohen, for his part, indicated that he was fed up with Trump’s outbursts.
“When does enough become enough and the petulant man child gets a time out in lockup for his bad behavior?” Cohen wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.
Trump also name-dropped Mark Pomerantz, the former federal prosecutor who former Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance had tapped to run the investigation into the ex-President before quitting in February 2022 after Bragg took office.
“Has Mark POMERANTZ been prosecuted for his terrible acts in and out of the D.A.’s Office,” Trump wrote.
While Pomerantz hasn’t been criminally prosecuted, he has been targeted by staunch Trump allies in Congress.
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