Judge Responds To Trump Gag Order Request
On Thursday, Judge Juan Merchan rejected the former president’s request to narrow his gag order.
The Hill reports:
On Thursday afternoon, hours after Daniels was excused, Trump attorney Todd Blanche argued that the witness had changed her version of events, referencing the defense’s lines of attack during cross examination.
“He needs an opportunity to respond to the American people, and the reason for the gag order are over. She is no longer a witness,” Blanche said.
Merchan denied the motion from the bench, maintaining the restrictions that prevent Trump from criticizing the adult film star, one of prosecutors’ highest-profile witnesses.
“That’s just not the track record,” Merchan said. “The reason why the gag order is in place to begin with is precisely because of the nature of these attacks – the vitriol.”
The gag order bars Trump from hurling insults at witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff or the judge’s family. It doesn’t bar Trump from attacking the judge himself or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D).