The expanded gag order includes the punishment of withholding juror names from Trump if his behavior continues, so Trump responded by attacking the gag order.
Roger Parloff of Lawfare noted that the expanded gag order now has some teeth:
… Though jurors’ names will be protected from *public* dissemination, Trump & his lawyers would, by statute, normally have access so they can research open source info about them, like political registration & social media accounts. …
/2— Roger Parloff (@rparloff) April 2, 2024
That is great and everything, but it seems to have done nothing to stop Trump, who is now posting videos of Fox News spreading his attacks for him.
Posting a video of Fox News saying something isn’t a violation of the gag order, since Trump did not say it himself.
All gag orders are problematic for Trump because he is running for president to avoid criminal conviction, so if he can’t use the campaign platform to help himself avoid conviction, it undercuts his purpose for running.
Sarah Jones asks the key question:
If Trump continues to go after Judge Merchan’s daughter, the names of jurors *might* be withheld from defendant.
Yet Jack Smith has been compelled to file for protections for jurors in different Trump case citing intimidation.
Why is getting the names even on the table? https://t.co/GX0UrfRkw0
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) April 2, 2024
It is part of the statute in New York that his legal team has access to juror names so that any defendant can get a fair defense, but Donald Trump continues to prove why he should not have access. It would be difficult to name another criminal defendant who has attacked the courts, judges, witnesses, and would likely do the same to criminal trial jurors in public as the ex-president has.
If there was ever a case where the judge would deem it a matter of safety for a defendant not to have access to juror names, it is this one.
Trump will continue to play games and figure out ways to circumvent the technical language of any gag order that is imposed on him.
To get really get his attention, the court needs to revoke his bail.
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Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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