Gag order breach? Trump targeted Cohen in taped interview hours before contempt hearing
Hours before his attorneys would mount a defense on Tuesday claiming he had not violated his gag order Donald Trump might have done just that in a 12-minute taped interview that morning, which did not air until later that day. It will be up to Judge Juan Merchan to make that decision, if prosecutors add it to their contempt request.
Prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office told Judge Juan Merchan that the ex-president violated the gag order ten times, via posts on his Truth Social platform, and are asking he be held in contempt. While the judge has yet to rule, he did not appear moved by their arguments. At one point, Judge Merchan told Trump's lead lawyer Todd Blanche he was "losing all credibility" with the court.
And while Judge Merchan directed defense attorneys to provide a detailed timeline surrounding Trump's Truth Social posts to prove he had not violated the gag order, Trump in an interview with a local television station appeared to have done so.
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The gag order bars Trump from "commenting or causing others to comment on potential witnesses in the case, prospective jurors, court staff, lawyers in the district attorney's office and the relatives of any counsel or court staffer, as CBS News reported.
"The threat is very real," Judge Merchan wrote when he expanded the gag order. "Admonitions are not enough, nor is reliance on self-restraint. The average observer, must now, after hearing Defendant's recent attacks, draw the conclusion that if they become involved in these proceedings, even tangentially, they should worry not only for themselves, but for their loved ones as well. Such concerns will undoubtedly interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitutes a direct attack on the Rule of Law itself."
Tuesday morning, Trump told ABC Philadelphia's Action News reporter Walter Perez, "Michael Cohen is a convicted liar. He's got no credibility whatsoever."
He repeated that Cohen is a "convicted liar," and insisted he "was a lawyer for many people, not just me."
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Since Cohen is a witness in Trump's New York criminal case, Judge Merchan might decide Trump's remarks during that interview violated the gag order, if prosecutors bring the video to his attention.
Enter attorney George Conway, who has been attending Trump's New York trial.
Conway reposted a clip of the video, tagged Manhattan District Attorney Bragg, writing: "cc: @ManhattanDA, for your proposed order to show cause why the defendant in ???????????????????????? ????. ???????????????????? should not spend some quiet time in lockup."
Trump has been criminally indicted in four separate cases and is facing a total of 88 felony charges, including 34 in this New York criminal trial for alleged falsification of business records to hide payments of "hush money" to an adult film actress and one other woman, in an alleged effort to suppress their stories and protect his 2016 presidential campaign, which experts say is election interference.
Watch the video below or at this link.
NEW: Trump’s Team let him do a lengthy interview with PA’s biggest TV station @6abc today.
It did not go well. In addition to some horrible abortion mansplaining, Trump: - called the NY judge corrupt - attacked witnesses personally - committed to taking the stand at his trial pic.twitter.com/ePKckyQi76 — J.J. Abbott ???? (@jjabbott) April 23, 2024
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