- On the first day of his New York ‘hush money’ trial, Donald Trump appears to have breached his gag order by criticizing the jury during an interview
- Judge Juan Merchan had prohibited Trump from attacking jurors or making public statements about them
- Trump commented about the jury being predominantly Democrats – a hearing will be held on Tuesday to determine if Trump should face contempt charges
Donald Trump looks to have already violated his gag order on the very first day of his New York ‘hush money’ trial.
During an interview on Steve Bannon‘s network Real America’s Voice, Trump attacked the jury.
Judge Juan Merchan had already implemented a gag order barring Trump from attacking witnesses, jurors, trial prosecutors and some others.
‘That jury was picked so fast. 95 percent are Democrats. The area is mostly all Democrat. You think of it as a purely Democrat area. It’s a very unfair situation that I can tell you,’ Trump said during the interview.
Earlier this month, Judge Merchan had specifically ordered Trump not to make any public statements about jurors sitting on his trial.
The order stipulates how Trump would be in violation for: ‘making or directing others to make public statements about any prospective juror or any juror in this criminal proceeding.’
Judge Merchan has now scheduled hearing for Tuesday morning to consider prosecutors’ arguments that Trump has violated his gag order – and that he should be held in contempt.
The hearing will be held outside the presence of the jury.
Trump could face fines or jail time if he violates Merchan’s gag order, which does not bar him from criticizing the judge or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office brought the charges last year.
New York prosecutors had argued at the start of April how Trump was trying to scare potential witnesses and urged Justice Juan Merchan to make clear that his existing gag order, which bars Trump from publicly commenting about witnesses and court staff, also applies to family members.
A March 28 social media post by Trump saw him called Merchan’s daughter a ‘Rabid Trump Hater’ and demanded the judge to be removed from the case.
‘This issue is not complicated. Family members of trial participants must be strictly off-limits,’ prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wrote.
Merchan’s daughter, Loren, runs a digital marketing agency called Authentic Campaigns, which works with Democratic candidates and non-profits.
Trump’s lawyers have argued her work poses a conflict of interest and have unsuccessfully sought to oust Merchan from the case.
The judge had also made several small donations totaling $35 to Democratic causes during the 2020 campaign, including $15 to Biden.
A state court ethics panel found that Loren Merchan’s work had no bearing on his impartiality.
The judge said in a ruling last September that he was certain of his ‘ability to be fair and impartial’ and that Trump’s lawyers had ‘failed to demonstrate that there exists concrete, or even realistic reasons for recusal to be appropriate, much less required on these grounds.’
In a recent interview, Merchan said: ‘There’s no agenda here. We want to follow the law. We want justice to be done.’
The expanding of the gag order came after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg asked a New York judge to consider his request.
Trump has previously blasted the gag order and says it violates his First Amendment rights.
