(ReliableNews.org) – Judge Juan Merchan issued a gag order against former President Donald Trump ahead of his New York criminal trial. A jury later found the Republican nominee for the White House guilty of 34 felonies. The judge adjusted the order before the June 27 presidential debate.
Merchan issued an order limiting the gag order two days before the debate happened. In his decision, the judge explained that he issued the order to protect the judicial process during the trial but the situation has changed now because the proceedings are over. Merchan terminated the order limiting Trump’s comments about the witnesses.
The judge also said, “there is ample evidence to justify continued concern for the jurors.” He wrote that he wanted to extend the protections that prohibited Trump from targeting the jurors in the case but couldn’t because the jury was discharged after the trial. Merchan issued a separate order notifying the former president and his legal team that they are still not allowed to reveal the jurors’ identities. That means Trump can speak about them in general terms.
Trump is still prohibited from attacking members of the court staff, their families, and prosecutors. That part of the order will remain until the sentencing on July 11. The judge explained they need to be able to carry out their “lawful duties free from threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm.” Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg are exempt from that part of the order. The former president can lash out at them as much as he wants.
The Republican candidate has repeatedly accused President Joe Biden of colluding with prosecutors in New York, Georgia, and the Department of Justice to prosecute him. He believes the POTUS is politicizing the criminal justice system to attack him. He’s still under a gag order in Georgia and federal prosecutors are trying to get one for the classified files case.
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