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Judge Juan Merchan heard testimony concerning potential violations of his gag order issued against former President Donald Trump for a second time.
The Associated Press reported that the prosecutors want more fines and not jail time for Trump’s statements including when he called his former attorney Michael Cohen a “liar.”
“The defendant is talking about witnesses and the jury in this case, one right here outside this door,” Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy said on Thursday. “This is the most critical time, the time the proceeding has to be protected.”
Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche cited statements from President Joe Biden that forecasted “stormy weather” for his opponent, a reference to former adult film star, Stormy Daniels, with whom Trump allegedly had an affair.
Blanche said, “President Trump can’t respond to that in the way he wants to because of this gag order.”
But the judge said that Trump could respond to Biden, but “is not allowed to refer to foreseeable witnesses,” the AP reported.
Blanche also targeted the media, saying they are at fault for Trump’s statements.
“He can’t just say ‘no comment’ repeatedly. He’s running for president,” Blanche said.
Merchand said the gag order cannot be extended to the media, adding, “The former president of the United States is on trial. He’s the leading candidate for the Republican party right now. It’s not surprising that we have press here, we have press in the overflow room, we have people throughout the world that are interested.”
Another statement regarding the jury’s makeup had Blanche defending his client saying that Trump’s comment that the jury was “95% Democrats” and that selection was rushed was from a 21-minute interview and was a reference to “the overall proceedings being unfair and political,” adding that Trump didn’t direct the comment to specific jurors.
Blanche also said the media disclosed the jury members’ political beliefs, CNN reported.
Merchan did not issue a ruling on the alleged gag order violations and testimony continued Thursday morning.
Trump has already been found in contempt for violating a gag order and fined $9,000.
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