A New York judge amended former President Donald Trump’s gag order Tuesday so that he can comment on witnesses and jurors in the case, which ended in a May 30 guilty verdict against the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.
State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan left intact the part of the order that prohibits Mr. Trump from commenting on court staff, or prosecutorial staff and their families. The judge said until the July 11 sentencing, those persons “must continue to perform their lawful duties free from threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm.”
The former president and his lawyers say the gag order is unconstitutional and particularly egregious given Mr. Trump’s status as the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. They say he should be free to speak freely in the critical months leading to the Nov. 5 election against President Biden.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team said it would be fine if the judge lifted the prohibition on Mr. Trump speaking about witnesses, but they felt jurors should still be covered. Judge Merchan differed from their stance in his order on Tuesday.
“Circumstances have now changed,” the judge wrote. “The trial portion of these proceedings ended when the verdict was rendered, and the jury discharged.”
Judge Merchan said there is “ample evidence to justify continued concern for jurors,” so he maintained a March order that bars the parties from disclosing personal information about individual jurors.
Mr. Trump faces sentencing days before his party’s mid-July convention in Milwaukee. At trial, prosecutors successfully argued that he paid hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election and criminally concealed the payment through a series of fraudulent checks to his lawyer Michael Cohen in 2017.
Mr. Trump says the criminal cases and efforts to silence him are a Democratic plot to ruin his campaign and protect Mr. Biden.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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