The judge presiding over President Donald Trump's hush money trial lifted some restrictions on the gag order on Tuesday.
Judge Juan Marchan's ruling came two days before Trump is due to debate President Joe Biden for the first time in the 2024 presidential election.
Judge Marchan's ruling lifted restrictions on Trump's right to comment on witnesses who testified against him during his trial and parts of an order barring him from speaking about the jury that convicted him — finding that the witness and jury work was done and there was no risk of it affecting the trial. The ruling left intact parts of an order barring Trump from going after court officials, individual prosecutors, and “family members of attorneys, staff, courts, and district attorneys.”
That includes Judge Marchan's daughter, whom he repeatedly denounced in the run-up to the trial for working for a company used by Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, to raise digital funds. “Maybe the reason Judge has so much hate is because she's making money working to 'defeat Trump,'” Marchan wrote in one social media post.
Marchant later extended the gag order to his daughter and the wife of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a target of Trump's attacks. Bragg was subject to a gag order.
“Mr. Trump's habit of attacking the families of the judges and lawyers presiding over his cases serves no legitimate purpose; it only serves to instill fear in those appointed or called to sit on his cases that not only they but also their families will be targets of the defendants' harsh criticism,” Judge Marchan wrote in his April 1 ruling.
Tuesday's ruling said those restrictions will continue through Trump's sentencing on July 11 because “those covered by this provision must continue to carry out their lawful duties without threat, intimidation, harassment or harm.”
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Chang slammed the judge for leaving the restrictions in place, saying they “prevent President Trump from speaking freely about the conflicts of interest that led to Judge Marchan's disbarment and the overwhelming evidence that exposes Joe Biden's witch-hunt fraud. This is another illegal decision by a judge with a massive conflict of interest and is clearly un-American.”
He said President Trump's legal team would “immediately challenge” the “unconstitutional order.”
During his trial, Trump was fined $10,000 for multiple gag violations, most of which were targeted at his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, a key witness for the prosecution.
Cohen downplayed the sentence in a statement: “Over the past six years, Donald and his supporters have made constant negative statements about me. His failed strategy to discredit me and avoid responsibility didn't work then, and it won't work now,” Cohen said.
The ruling allows Trump to speak broadly about the jury, but he is still barred from discussing them by name or revealing their personal information under the terms of a separate protective order, which remains in effect. Trump was fined during the trial for saying in an interview that the jury was “picked too quickly” and was “95 percent Democrats.”
Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records about payments Cohen made to Trump in repayment for hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 election campaign, after she testified that she had a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006, something Trump denies.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in the criminal case and his lawyers have said they plan to appeal the conviction.
