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Items tagged with: GagOrder
Reminder — each day’s complete court transcript is being posted on the NY courts website.
Direct link to the #TrumpTrial transcripts:
https://pdfs.nycourts.gov/PeopleVs.DTrump-71543/transcripts/
#criminal #law #Trump #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #MobTactics #NodFarter #GagOrder #StormyDaniels #KarenMcDougal
Justice #Merchan is on the bench &addressing something that #Trump said outside court yesterday, when he claimed that he could not testify because of the #GagOrder.
The comment left many people confused, & it wasn’t clear if Trump was simply making an excuse for not testifying, or if he misspoke. But Justice Merchan is informing him that the statement was incorrect. The gag order “does not prohibit you from taking the stand” or limit what he can say, the judge says.
Before the jury is called back in, Justice #Merchan plans to hold a hearing on whether #Trump has again violated the #GagOrder in the case.
Trump went to his social media platform this morning to again saying:
"We cannot let this radical left, corrupt & highly conflicted New York Democrat judge interfere w/the presidential election of 2024 — the most important election in the history of our country. The USA is truly a nation in decline! Remove the unconstitutional gag order."
#Trump also attacked Justice #Merchan at a rally in Wisconsin last night & said that the #jury in this trial was drawn from a county —Manhattan — which is “a 95% or so Democrat area.”
Trump continued the same line of attack in the courthouse hallway. According to a pool report, he referred to Justice Merchan as conflicted & bragged about yesterday's rallies.
#criminal #law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #MobTactics #GagOrder #TrumpTrial
Gag order hearing is underway
Moments into the prosecutors' argument, #Trump slapped the arm of his lead lawyer, Todd Blanche, and gestured with his hands. They spoke briefly and then Trump sat back and immediately shut his eyes.
#criminal #law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #MobTactics #GagOrder #TrumpTrial
Regarding #Trump’s comments about David #Pecker being nice, prosecutor Conroy argued it was a threat to other witnesses “be nice or else face attacks” not sure that will work. Conroy called Trump’s statements as “air of menace” I agree, but if we’re supposed to infer for a #GagOrder that gets a little tricky.
#criminal #law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #MobTactics #TrumpTrial
Conroy re #MichaelCohen,:
The judge, in ruling against #Trump after the first hearing, warned that #witnesses could not use the #GagOrder as a “sword,” attacking Trump while knowing that he would be fined for attacking them back. Conroy acknowledges that: “We understand the court's concern about Michael Cohen.” But he wants the violation recognized, as he says Trump is trying to “disrupt” the process & that his statements are “corrosive to this proceeding”
#Trump atty #Blanche argues the purpose of the #GagOrder is to “protect the integrity of these proceedings” & that none of the 4 statements at issue were disruptive to the trial, & continues to say Trump’s statements are responses to political attacks.
Blanche mentions a comment from President #Biden at the WH Correspondents' Dinner in which the president made an oblique reference to #StormyDaniels, saying that Trump had been experiencing “stormy weather.”
But the judge asks, isn’t it possible to respond to #Biden without actually mentioning #StormyDaniels, a potential #witness?
[also Biden isn’t under a #GagOrder, threatening any #witnesses or facing multiple #criminal charges]
#Trump appeared to get frustrated during this exchange & motioned w/his hands.
#law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #MobTactics #TrumpTrial
#Blanche complains about media coverage in the argument, but #Trump seeks out the media, he gives multiple stmnts outside the courtroom & constantly discusses the trial. He’s running on his #criminal charges.
Justice #Merchan says he doesn’t understand Blanche’s argument comparing Trump’s inability to speak out freely w/journalists' ability to report freely on him everyday. “They’re not defendants in this case," Merchan says forcefully. "They’re not subject to the #GagOrder.”
#Blanche is arguing that #Trump has to respond to reporters who ask him about #witnesses.
Justice #Merchan replies, “It was your client who went down to that holding area & stood in front of the press & started to speak. It wasn’t the press that went to him. He went to the press. He didn’t need to go in that direction.” He adds, “Nobody forced your client” to go talk to reporters in the courthouse hallway when he attacked #MichaelCohen.
After Justice #Merchan pointed out that no one is forcing #Trump to talk to the #press, #Blanche’s response, “I agree with that.”
Merchan continues to express concern about Trump’s rights to free speech, particularly as a political candidate. He says that a whole press area has been set aside for Trump in the hallway so that “your client, as candidate for the presidency, has the opportunity to speak about absolutely anything he wants.”
Justice #Merchan seems very mindful of #Trump painting himself as a #martyr, & is trying to emphasize Trump’s #FreeSpeech rights as a candidate.
Merchan says he’s not that concerned w/the potential violation where Trump referred to David Pecker as “a nice guy.”
Blanche moved on to #MichaelCohen.
Who has really been relentless & isn’t doing the prosecution any favors.
Blanche shows some of Cohen’s tweets.
#criminal #law #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference #MobTactics #GagOrder #TrumpTrial
#Blanche discusses #MichaelCohen’s Tik-Tok videos, saying, “This is not a man that needs protection from the gag order.”
This is a serious concern for prosecutors. Their #witness, who had said that he would be silent after having attacked #Trump, has not. + Justice #Merchan has already written that he is somewhat sympathetic to the defense’s argument here.
#criminal #law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #MobTactics #GagOrder #TrumpTrial
Justice #Merchan signals he continues to have little patience for #Trump’s comments about the #jury, saying they were mostly #Democrats.
Pretty sure he’ll be penalized for at least those comments.
The #GagOrder violations hearing is over.
Hopefully Merchan will give a ruling soon on it.
Short break.
#KeithDavidson, #StormyDaniels's lawyer, is back on the stand for more questioning from prosecutors.
#criminal #law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #MobTactics #TrumpTrial
Side note, while Todd #Blanche was arguing against penalizing #Trump for violating the #GagOrder inside the courtroom, Trump was literally fundraising off it. In a message sent to supporters, Trump wrote that he’s “been FULLY GAGGED” & “stuck in court all day.”
The message included a link to a survey asking whether “you support President Trump more or less after every single witch hunt, raid, indictment, & arrest.“
#Trump claimed on social media that this stmnt was “JUST FOUND” (it wasn’t)
He was penalized $1k for that as a violation of the #GagOrder.
#KeithDavidson reads #StormyDaniels's denial aloud.
#Steinglass: “How would you characterize the truthfulness of this statement?”
“Did you intend for this statement to be cleverly misleading?”
Davidson: “I don’t understand the question” & added he would “never” use the term “#HushMoney”. He prefers the term “consideration.”
Susan#Necheles, one of #Trump's lawyers, begins by asking for a clarification on the #GagOrder, giving a copy of some news articles to the judge. The articles are by what she calls “legal commentators" including #Trump supporter #JonathanTurley, saying, "These articles are all articles which President Trump would like to post on Truth." She says they involve some witnesses & aspects of the case, but Trump has “concerns" about posting because they reference witnesses.
Chris #Conroy, the prosecutor, says they need to go through the articles but that it's "odd" that the defense is asking for an advance ruling.
When Conroy says that he thinks the #GagOrder is "very specific," #Trump vigorously shakes his head.
#Merchan says he is not going to pre-judge Trump's postings. "I'm not going to give advance rulings," he says.
"There is no ambiguity, I believe, in the order." He says that if Trump is in doubt, he should "steer clear."
Via Andrew Weissmann said this last night. These are creative, and hopefully potentially effective, options:
#Trump #GagOrder options in addition to fine/jail:
- put a monitor over his use of social media posts
- hold sentence on a contempt finding until after trial over
- advise Trump that his contempt of gag order can be considered at sentencing upon conviction.
All can be used by Judge Merchan.
Inform yourselves on NY #GagOrder law: #TrumpTrial
"The judge would be on firm legal footing to sanction #Trump for all of the statements, but in an abundance of caution, may distinguish some of the repostings for the sake of taking a balanced approach and an incremental one...We expect the court to impose fines against Trump for a substantial number of the violations and to warn him that future violations will result in additional fines and potentially jail time" https://www.justsecurity.org/94878/why-trump-will-likely-be-held-in-contempt-and-what-then/
Why Trump Will Likely be Held in Contempt and What Then
Explaining former President Donald Trump's gag order in his New York criminal trial, the alleged violations, and the legal framework.Siven Watt (Just Security)
#Merchan read his #Sandoval decision re:
the #civil #fraud finding that he misstated his assets; his 2 violations of a #GagOrder stemming from that case; 2 separate court findings of #defamation of #EJeanCarroll; & the dissolution of the #Trump foundation as part of a settlement w/the NYAG. The judge said he would not allow prosecutors to discuss in detail the underlying facts of those matters — but added a warning that could change.
It’s probably safe to say that few, if any, judges have had to deal w/the array of #threats to #their trial that Justice #Merchan has had to. Besides #Trump himself, who constantly tests the boundaries of his #GagOrder, there are his allies who attacking the judge & his family & who aren’t covered by the gag order. Then there’s the #media who has been putting potentially identifying info about prospective #jurors on TV.
#criminal #law #intimidation #harassment #JuryTampering #TrumpTrial
The #press is barred from covering aspects of the trial related to the #jury, for understandable #security reasons. At the same time, the judge is taking another 5 days to hold a hearing on whether #Trump has violated the #GagOrder that was placed on him w/ repeated social media posts about a key #witness & #jurors.
This is 1 of many ways in which despite Trump's complaints that he is being treated unfairly, the judge is bending over backwards to be fair to him in this #trial.
Emil Bove, one of Trump's lawyers, says #Trump is simply responding to "political attacks" when he criticizes #MichaelCohen, his fmr atty & #fixer, who's a key trial #witness.
#Merchan makes no immediate ruling on possible violation of the #GagOrder, saying he will wait for a hearing scheduled for April 23.
So yeah, Trump is certain to spend the time before then posting crap that will test the gag order's limits.
#criminal #law #intimidation #harassment #JuryTampering #TrumpTrial
#Trump defense is saying that reposting statements from others should not violate the #GagOrder, echoing Trump's own defense of his statements for years.
Conroy notes that Trump posted on social media quoting Jesse Watters on Fox News appearing to attack the prospective #jurors, saying they were activists trying to get on the jury to harm Trump. He underscores that they are asking #Merchan to hold Trump "in contempt."
#Trump #criminal #law #intimidation #harassment #JuryTampering #TrumpTrial
Justice #Merchan says the questions about employers are necessary. But he directs prospective jurors' answers to be #redacted from the transcript & #reporters to not report them.
Christopher Conroy, one of the Manhattan DA prosecutors, is now arguing that #Trump has continued to violate the #GagOrder that was placed on him. [ya think?]
"It's ridiculous & has to stop," he says.
#media #criminal #law #intimidation #harassment #JuryTampering #TrumpTrial
