Donald Trump violated a gag order when he assaulted a judge’s daughter and made false accusations against her on social media during a hush-money criminal case this week, Manhattan prosecutors said Friday.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office asked Judge Juan M. Merchant to “clarify or confirm” the scope of the gag order he issued Tuesday and instruct the former president and presumptive Republican nominee to “immediately cease his attacks on the family.”
Assistant District Attorney Joshua Stanglas argued in a letter to Merchant that the gag order prohibits comments intended to disrupt or harass court staff or their families, making it impossible for the judge’s daughter to participate in Trump’s remarks. He said Trump should be punished for further violations.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the district attorney’s office misunderstood the order and said it did not prohibit him from making comments about political consultant Loren Merchan, whose firm has worked for Trump’s rivals Opponents campaign. President Joe Biden and other Democrats.
“The court cannot ‘direct’ President Trump to do anything that is not required by the gag order,” Trump’s attorneys Todd Branch and Susan Nechels wrote to Merchin in response to the prosecutors’ letters. “To ‘clarify or confirm’ the meaning of the gag order in the manner suggested by the People would be to expand the scope of the gag order.”
The trial, scheduled to begin on April 15, accuses Trump of falsifying payment records to cover up negative coverage during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, Trump wrote that Loren Mercan “makes money by trying to ‘catch Trump'” and that he falsely accused her of posting a photo on social media showing him Photos from behind bars.
A spokesman for the New York State Court System said Trump’s claims were false and that the social media account cited by Trump no longer belongs to Loren Merchan.
The account on Manipulation of accounts she had long since abandoned,” court spokesman Al Baker said.
In the same Truth Society post, Trump complained that his gag order was “illegal, un-American, and unconstitutional.” He said the silent review judge “wrongly attempted to take away my First Amendment right to speak out against the weaponization of law enforcement by my Democratic rivals.”
The gag order sought by prosecutors prohibits Trump from making or directing others to make public statements on his behalf about jurors or potential witnesses in the hush-money trial, such as his attorney-turned-nemesis Michael Cohen and porn star Stormi Daniels.
The order, which echoes one in Trump’s criminal election interference case in Washington, D.C., also prohibits any speech intended to disrupt or harass court staff, the prosecution team or their families. Trump, however, is free to criticize Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the elected Democrat whose office is prosecuting Trump — but Stanglass also wants his family to be spared limit.
In his letter, Stanglass implored the judge to make “full clarity” to Trump that the gag order protects his family, Bragg’s family and the family members of all other individuals covered by the gag order. He urged Mocha to warn Trump “that his recent behavior is disrespectful and instruct him to stop immediately.”
Violating the gag order could result in Trump being held in contempt of court, fined or even jailed.
Trump’s lawyers have opposed any such warning, citing constitutional concerns about further restrictions on Trump’s speech as he runs for president and faces criminal charges.
They said prosecutors would want to pursue a full prosecution if they pursued the issue, which could cause potential trouble in preparations for the trial when jury selection begins in a little more than two weeks.
Follow us on Google news ,Twitter , and Join Whatsapp Group of thelocalreport.in
