A New York judge presiding over the “hush money case” ruled on Tuesday (June 25) to partially lift the gag order imposed on former President Trump in the criminal case. However, some restrictions in the gag order will still remain in place until Trump is sentenced.
The revised gag order allows Trump to publicly discuss witnesses in the case and loosens restrictions on the former president making comments about jury members. Despite this, Judge Juan Merchan ruled that Trump is still subject to limitations in the order, prohibiting him from discussing prosecutors and court staff from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, as well as any of their family members if such comments could interfere with the case.
Similar to the previous gag order, the new order permits Trump to speak about Judge Merchan himself and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
However, Trump is still bound by a separate protective order that prohibits him from publicly disclosing the identities of anonymous jury members to prevent them from facing threats of violence.
In his ruling, Judge Merchan wrote, “There is sufficient evidence to suggest that continued attention to the jurors is reasonable.”
The judge reluctantly lifted some of these restrictions, stating that he strongly wanted to extend protection for the jurors, as advocated by Bragg’s office.
“However, circumstances have now changed,” Merchan wrote. “The adjudication part of these litigation proceedings ends when a decision is rendered; the jury has been discharged.”
As the gag order is partially lifted, there are two days remaining until the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle on Thursday, where Trump is expected to address the issues he was convicted of in the case.
Trump has long criticized the gag order as an infringement of his First Amendment rights, emphasizing that he is the presumed Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election, and that the gag order would hinder his campaign. Following the conclusion of the trial, Trump’s legal team requested the judge to lift the gag order.
Merchan previously ruled that Trump violated the gag order a total of 10 times before and during the trial and fined the former president $1,000 for each violation.
Trump’s sentencing is scheduled for July 11. He is appealing the outcome of the trial that concluded at the end of May.
A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign team, Steven Cheung, released a statement on Tuesday criticizing Merchan for not fully lifting the gag order, stating that this would suppress Trump’s speech during Thursday’s presidential debate and indicating that Trump’s legal team “will immediately challenge” this order.