Left: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg walks in the hallway outside a courtroom where former President Donald Trump is attending a hearing in his criminal case on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star in New York, Monday, March 25, 2024. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)/Right: Former President Donald Trump speaks during news conference Monday, March 25, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
As jury selection continues, criminal defendant Donald Trump posted a quote on Truth Social from Fox News host Jesse Watters on Wednesday claiming that the pool of prospective hush-money trial jurors was filled with “Liberal Activists” mendaciously gunning for an opportunity to convict the former president.
In the updated version of the gag order currently in effect, Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Merchan clearly stated that Trump cannot make or direct others to make “public statements about any prospective juror or any juror in this criminal proceeding.”
In light of the order, here are some questions: 1) Did Trump compose the Truth Social post or did he direct someone to do so? 2) Does quoting someone else and posting said quote on Truth Social and attributing it to them, as opposed to merely reposting (i.e., retweeting) the content, run afoul of the gag order? And does repeating scattershot accusations from a Fox News host about “undercover Liberal Activists” attempting to infiltrate the jury with lies to the judge amount to Trump making a public statement “about any prospective juror or any juror in this criminal proceeding”?
For noted Trump critic and former Mueller probe prosecutor Andrew Weissmann the answer to these questions was “clear.”
The MSNBC legal analyst said that it seems Trump is asking Merchan to hold him in criminal contempt.
“I think that it is incumbent on the judge to treat him like any other party. It is, as I have said repeatedly, it is the road to hell to not treat him like anyone else. And it’s very hard to see the defense that’s going to be made,” Weissmann commented. “I’m not going to be surprised at all if the district attorney revises their pending motion to encompass this. And I think the judge will certainly want to give the defense an opportunity to be heard, that is required by due process. But it’s very hard to see why there will not be sanctions for this conduct.”
The pending motion from Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg (D) that Weissmann referred to was submitted in response to Trump’s three posts about “known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses” in the case, specifically his former attorney Michael Cohen and porn star Stormy Daniels, whom he called “sleaze bags” on Truth Social.
More Law&Crime coverage: Hush-money prosecutors offer long list of Trump’s bad acts intended to destroy his credibility with jurors
Bragg argued earlier in the week that Trump violated the gag order because the posts “concern[ed] Cohen’s and Daniels’s participation in this criminal proceeding” just days before trial was set to begin.
Bragg asserted Tuesday that Trump willfully violated the gag orders and should be held in criminal contempt for “disobeying a lawful mandate.” Notably, the DA asked Merchan to fine Trump, to order the defendant to remove the offending Truth Social posts, and to warn Trump of possible “incarceration” for additional violations.
Trump shared the Watters quote one day later anyway.
The judge has set a hearing for April 23 on the issue and it would not be a surprise if the DA highlights Trump’s most recent social media activity as further proof that his gag order violations have been “knowing and willful.”
Notably, when Trump’s defense attorneys argued against the gag order in the first place, they claimed the former president’s criticisms of the judge’s daughter and her political consulting for Democrats were only meant to support the argument that Merchan should recuse himself. It’s unclear how the defense would explain the purpose of the juror-focused post.
On the day his trial began, Trump demanded his “VOICE” back and called the judge “Crooked.” On Tuesday, he called Merchan a Trump hater for not letting him “respond to people that are on TV lying,” possibly a reference to Michael Cohen.
“Take off the Gag Order,” Trump said, with three exclamation points.
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