The expanded gag order includes the punishment of not providing Trump with the names of jurors if his behavior continues, so Trump responded by attacking the gag order.
Lawfare’s Roger Parloff noted that the expanded gag order now has some teeth:
… Even though the jurors’ names will be protected from *public* release, Trump and his lawyers, by statute, would normally have access so they can search open source information about them, such as political registration and social media accounts. …
/2— Roger Parloff (@rparloff) April 2, 2024
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That’s great and all, but it appears to have done nothing to stop Trump, who is now releasing videos of Fox News spreading his attacks for him.
Posting a video of Fox News saying something is not a violation of the gag order, since Trump didn’t say it himself.
All gag orders are problematic for Trump because he is running for president to avoid a criminal conviction, so if he can’t use the campaign platform to avoid conviction, that undermines his purpose for running.
Sarah Jones asks the key question:
If Trump continues to prosecute Judge Merchan’s daughter, juror names *may* be withheld from the defendant.
Yet Jack Smith was forced to seek juror protection in several Trump cases citing intimidation.
Why are the names on the table? https://t.co/GX0UrfRkw0
– Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) April 2, 2024
It is part of New York statute that his legal team has access to the names of jurors so that any defendant can get a fair defense, but Donald Trump continues to demonstrate why he should not have access. It would be difficult to name another criminal defendant who has attacked courts, judges, witnesses and would probably do the same to jurors in criminal trials in public as the former president has done.
If ever there was a case where the judge felt it was a matter of safety for a defendant not to have access to jurors’ names, it is this one.
Trump will continue to play games and find ways to get around the technical language of any gag order that is imposed on him.
To really get his attention, the court needs to revoke his bail.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a member of the White House press pool and a congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in political science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
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