A judge partially lifted a gag order on Donald Trump in his hush-money case in New York, where he was found guilty of falsifying business records last month. Trump is now allowed to make public comments about witnesses in the case and speak generally about jurors in his trial, Justice Juan Merchan wrote in a ruling on Tuesday. The former president is still barred from speaking publicly about court staff, prosecutors and their families. The identities of the jurors – kept secret due to the high-profile nature of the trial – will also remain protected, Justice Merchan said.
Trump has regularly voiced his opposition to the gag order, arguing that it violates the constitution. His representative referred to Justice Merchan’s ruling as “another unlawful decision by a highly conflicted judge” in a statement on Tuesday. After Trump insulted the judge’s daughter on social media a week later, Justice Merchan extended the gag order she had placed on him in late March. In the end, Trump faced jail time threats and thousands of dollars in fines for breaking the order during his trial.
His legal team asked that the full gag order be lifted after a New York jury found Trump guilty in May. He was convicted of falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money payment made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Prosecutors did not object to lifting the part of the gag order that prevented Trump from commenting on witnesses. The former president had made several social media posts attacking the prosecution’s star witness, his former lawyer, Michael Cohen. Trump had argued that he was simply responding to attacks by Cohen, who had called him a host of names on social medi
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