Parts of the gag order against former President Donald Trump in his New York hush money case were lifted by Judge Juan Merchan on Tuesday, just two days before Trump is set to square off against President Joe Biden in the first debate of the election season.
Merchan lifted sections of the gag order that prohibited Trump from speaking about witnesses in the case or jurors, who ultimately delivered a guilty verdict against the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, CNBC reported. Trump is still barred from making public statements about Manhattan District Attorney’s Office prosecutors and staff or court staff, including any of their family members. The gag order does not prohibit Trump from talking about Manhattan Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg since he is an elected official.
Trump and Biden are set to take the stage in Atlanta on Thursday night for the first presidential debate, which will be hosted by CNN and moderated by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
Trump was found guilty on all 34 felony charges of falsifying business records last month in a trial that the former president blasted as a political “witch hunt” and “election interference.” The 34 charges were centered on accusations of a scheme to cover up an alleged affair between Trump and porn actress Stormy Daniels. Trump has denied an affair ever happened.
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Last month, while the hush money trial was still ongoing, a New York appeals court denied a motion from Trump’s legal team to get Merchan’s gag order against the former president thrown out. Trump was fined 10 times by Merchan for a total of $10,000 for violating the gag order during the trial.
The judge also threatened to put Trump behind bars if he continued to violate the order. Trump suggested that spending time behind bars would be worth the “sacrifice,” saying, “our Constitution is much more important than jail.”
Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, which comes just four days before the Republican National Convention kicks off in Milwaukee on July 15. Each of Trump’s 34 felony counts comes with a maximum of four years in prison, but the former president is expected to appeal the guilty verdict. Legal experts are also doubtful that Merchan will sentence Trump, the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes, to prison.
