Trump hush money case gag order partially lifted

Former President Donald Trump was freed on Tuesday from gag order restrictions that protected witnesses and jurors in his hush money case, although prosecutors and the family members of the judge remain protected until Trump is sentenced on July 11.

Judge Juan Merchan pointed to the end of Trump’s trial as a basis to lift the restrictions.

“The basis for the issuance of the Orders was to protect the integrity of the judicial proceedings,” Merchan wrote. “However, circumstances have now changed. The trial portion of these proceedings ended when the verdict was rendered, and the jury discharged.”

The gag order blocked Trump from publicly commenting in any way on jurors, and from publicly commenting on the participation of witnesses in the trial, including porn star Stormy Daniels and former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. It also restricted Trump’s statements on prosecutors other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and on family members of both any prosecutors and Merchan.

Mechan wrote Tuesday that he would have preferred to keep the full gag order restrictions on commenting about jurors in place as well, but believed he couldn’t do so given the basis upon which New York appellate courts had previously upheld the gag order restrictions.

“Nonetheless, there is ample evidence to justify continued concern for the jurors,” Merchan wrote. He said a separate order restricting the disclosure of juror information remains in place.

Trump was held in criminal contempt 10 times during the trial based on 10 instances in which Merchan determined Trump violated the gag order. Trump was fined $1,000 for each violation. The judge threatened to jail Trump if “necessary and appropriate” to get the former president to comply.

A unanimous Manhattan jury convicted Trump on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in order to cover up a conspiracy to unlawfully interfere in the 2016 presidential election through a scheme involving a hush money payment to Daniels.