The judge and defense attorneys involved in the so-called “hush-money” trial got into a heated debate on Tuesday over whether the former President Donald Trump violated a gag order with his social media posts, drawing a sharp reaction from the ex-president.
In the hearing, Judge Juan Merchan appeared to disagree with certain arguments made by President Trump’s attorneys after prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have claimed President Trump has so far violated the order that bars him from targeting court staff, witnesses, prosecutors, and the judge’s family, asking for $1,000 fines per each violation.
The judge did not issue a ruling Tuesday on whether he violated the order, as prosecutors have sought. Judge Merchan at one point suggested that instead of begging for forgiveness, President Trump should’ve asked the judge for clarity when considering posts or reposts that might cross the line.
“This gag order, we are trying to comply with it,” Trump attorney Todd Blanche said before Judge Merchan, adding, “President Trump is being very careful to comply with your order.” Judge Merchan then stated: “You’re losing all credibility with the court.”
“HIGHLY CONFLICTED, TO PUT IT MILDLY, JUDGE JUAN MERCHAN, HAS TAKEN AWAY MY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH,” he wrote on Truth Social at around 11 a.m. ET. “EVERYBODY IS ALLOWED TO TALK AND LIE ABOUT ME, BUT I AM NOT ALLOWED TO DEFEND MYSELF. THIS IS A KANGAROO COURT, AND THE JUDGE SHOULD RECUSE HIMSELF!”
During the hearing, Mr. Blanche spelled out the process behind the ex-president’s Truth Social operation, explaining that people working with President Trump will pick out articles they think his followers would like to see and then repost them under his name. The attorney had argued that reposting a news article, as in some of the posts at issue, doesn’t violate the gag order. When the judge asked for citations to cases to back that up, Mr. Blanche said he didn’t have any, but “it’s just common sense.”
“You’re not giving me anything to hang my hat on to say, ‘you’re right, this was ambiguous,’” the judge had said. “The court should make crystal clear what it means with the reposts,” Mr. Blanche said in response, referring to Truth re-posts.
Earlier, he said that President Trump is merely responding to other people’s comments in the course of political speech. That includes comments made by likely witnesses, Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
“There is no dispute that President Trump is facing a barrage of political attacks,” including from the two, Mr. Blanche said. He again argues it’s unfair for them to be unfettered in their comments but for the former president to be muzzled.
Before the testimony started, prosecutors cited 10 posts on President Trump’s social media account and campaign website that they said breached the order. They called the posts a “deliberate flouting” of the court’s order.
In one Wednesday Truth Social post, President Trump quoted Fox News pundit Jesse Watters, who stated: “They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump jury.”
In one post, from April 10, the former president described Mr. Cohen, who was his former attorney and is now a critic, and Ms. Clifford, an adult movie performer, as “two sleaze bags who have, with their lies and misrepresentations, cost our Country dearly!”
Ms. Clifford, notably, claimed that she engaged in an affair with the former president in 2006, which he has categorically denied. The former president is accused of falsifying business records for alleged payments made to Mr. Cohen to prevent her from making the affair allegations in public. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying they’re politically motivated.
On Monday, the former president made references to Mr. Cohen while speaking to reporters, trying to distance himself from his former attorney.
“The things he got in trouble for were things that had nothing to do with me,” President Trump said. “He got in trouble. He went to jail. This has nothing to do with me. This had to do with the taxicab company that he owned, which is just something he owned—and medallions and borrowing money and a lot of things—but it had nothing to do with me.”
Prosecutors are seeking a $1,000 fine, or the maximum allowed by law, for each of the first three alleged violations. They did not specify the punishment they are seeking for the seven other posts, which date to the morning jury selection began in the trial last week.
On Monday, opening arguments in the case started, with prosecutors alleging the former president’s act of falsified records was a conspiracy to interfere with the 2016 election. However, his attorneys have argued that prosecutors have no case, saying those expenses were legitimate.
