Donald Trump may have violated his gag order set by the New York judge in his criminal hush money trial by parroting a Fox New host's attack against potential jurors being seated in the case, according to a legal expert.
On Wednesday, during a pause in proceedings where Trump is defending himself against a 34-count indictment that he falsified business records to bury alleged sexual affairs weeks before the 2016 election, the former president quoted Fox News host Jesse Watters stating: “They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury."
For NYU professor and general counsel of the Department of Defense Ryan Goodman, this was a huge no-no.
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"It is a very, very clear violation of the gag order," he told CNN's Erin Burnett on her show "Out Front." "The gag order's last provision says that Trump cannot make public statements about any prospective juror or any juror. Full stop."
He continued: "It's not about his intent. It's not about making statements about jurors in order to interfere with a criminal proceeding, which is part of the gag order — he just cannot make public statements about them. He just did."
The gag order was initially imposed on defendant Trump by New York Judge Juan Merchan to insulate witnesses, court staff, and jurors. But after Trump started a social media barrage against Merchan's political consultant daughter who did work for various Democratic candidates, he expanded the gag order terms to include family members of both the prosecutors and the judge.
So Trump must "refrain" from "making or directing others to make public statements about any prospective juror or any juror in the is criminal proceedings," according to the document.
The 45th president who is also the presumptive Republican nominee for president has been beside himself to lift the gag order so he can sound off at will about his disdain for the historic first criminal trial of a former president.
"I want to speak, or at least be able respond," he groused on Truth Social. "Election Interference! RIGGED, UNCONSTITUTIONAL TRIAL! Take off the Gag Order!!!"
An April 23 hearing date was scheduled after Bragg's team requested Trump be held in contempt for violating the gag order three times before the most recent Truth Social post.
"This is going to come out next week," Goodman said, adding that Trump could be threatened with contempt and even jail time "if he continues to do this."
