{"id":2283597,"date":"2024-06-25T20:36:59","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T00:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-merchan-gives-trump-partial-relief-from-gag-order-just-in-time-for-debate\/"},"modified":"2024-06-25T20:39:17","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T00:39:17","slug":"judge-merchan-gives-trump-partial-relief-from-gag-order-just-in-time-for-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-merchan-gives-trump-partial-relief-from-gag-order-just-in-time-for-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Merchan Gives Trump Partial Relief from Gag Order Just in Time for Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjudge-merchan-gives-trump-partial-relief-from-gag-order-just-in-time-for-debate%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2283597&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Judge Juan Merchan, overseeing former President Donald Trump&#8217;s New York \u200chush-money case, has slightly decreased restrictions of a \u200dgag \u2062order placed on Trump, allowing him to discuss trial witnesses and jurors.\u200b However, Trump remains prohibited from commenting on lawyers \u2064and staff involved with the Manhattan District Attorney\u2019s office, their families, and certain court staff, which could impact the case. This decision arrives as Trump prepares for a presidential debate against President Joe Biden, where he might have wanted\u200c to discuss Matthew Colangelo,\u2064 a\u2063 former Biden DOJ official now\u200d involved in prosecuting Trump.\u200c This situation \u200bleads to \u200cconcerns about the intersection of law and political campaigning, particularly highlighted by comments from George Washington Law School Professor Jonathan Turley,\u200d who criticizes \u2063the ongoing gag order as potentially influenced by political motives.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<header> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/commentary\/\">  Commentary <\/a>   <span> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/randydesoto\/\">  <\/a> <\/p>\n<p> <span>   By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/randydesoto\/%20\"><span>Randy DeSoto<\/span><\/a> <\/span> <span>   June 25, 2024 at 3:03pm <\/span> <\/span>  <\/header>\n<section>\n<p>Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing former President Donald Trump\u2019s New York hush-money case, partially lifted a gag order he had placed on the GOP candidate, but he left an entirely unacceptable aspect of it in place.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2024\/06\/25\/trump-gag-order-partly-lifted-in-hush-money-case-ahead-of-first-presidential-debate.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CNBC<\/a> reported Tuesday that Trump is now able to speak about witnesses and jurors from the trial, which resulted in a guilty verdict on 34 counts of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/are-the-charges-brought-against-the-trump-organizations-cfo-part-of-a-witch-hunt-experts-weigh-in\/\" title=\"Are The Charges Brought Against The Trump Organization\u2019s CFO Part Of A Witch Hunt? Experts Weigh In\">falsifying business records<\/a> being handed down on May 30. His sentencing hearing is set for July 11.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut Merchan ruled that Trump is still bound by the order\u2019s restrictions on speaking about lawyers and staff for the Manhattan District Attorney\u2019s office and the court, plus any of their family members, if those statements could interfere with the case. Trump is allowed to speak about Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg,\u201d CNBC said.<\/p>\n<p>Well, isn\u2019t that convenient, with Trump\u2019s presidential debate against President Joe Biden two days away?<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-amy-klobuchar-introduces-big-tech-antitrust-bill-proposal\/\" title=\"Sen. Amy Klobuchar Introduces Big Tech Antitrust Bill Proposal\">main point<\/a> that the presumptive Republican nominee would no doubt want to make is that the lead prosecutor in Braggs\u2019 case is former top Biden Justice Department official <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/jim-jordan-threatens-letitia-james-subpoena-trump-prosecutor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Matthew Colangelo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>When asked by either CNN moderator Jake Tapper or Dana Bash about being a \u201cconvicted felon,\u201d Trump would want to highlight that the four criminal prosecutions that he has faced this year all have a nexus at the Biden White House.<\/p>\n<p>However, speaking about Colangelo would be in direct violation of the gag order, and with Merchan the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-tragedy-of-crimea\/\" title=\"The Tragedy of Crimea\">sole official<\/a> who will determine Trump\u2019s sentence, which could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/will-trump-go-prison-need-know-following-rigged-hush-trial-money-verdict\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">include prison time<\/a>, the candidate will certainly be very circumspect about mentioning any of Braggs\u2019 attorneys.<\/p>\n<p>Colangelo was first employed by New York Attorney General Letitia James and helped put together her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-nominee-jessica-clarke-muffs-john-kennedys-basic-question-during-hearing-you-want-to-take-another-crack-at-that\/\" title=\"Biden Nominee Jessica Clarke Muffs John Kennedy\u2019s \u2018Basic\u2019 Question During Hearing: \u2018You Want To Take Another Crack At That?\u2019\">civil fraud case<\/a> against Trump, which resulted in a $450 million judgment against him.<\/p>\n<p>Following his stint in James\u2019 office, Colangelo went to work for the Biden DOJ in 2021, for two years becoming the agency\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/JDJ%20to%20AG%20Letitia%20James%20re%20Colangelo.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">third-highest-ranking<\/a> official.<\/p>\n<p>He then <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trump-biden-wh-inserted-prosecutor-new-york-case-execute-political-hit-job\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">left<\/a> the DOJ in December 2022 to become the lead prosecutor in Bragg\u2019s hush money case against Trump, a case which that<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2021\/06\/28\/trump-lawyer-manhattan-da-wont-charge-496768\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> office<\/a>, the DOJ, and the Federal Election Commission had previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/trumps-right-scotus-step-stop-interference-new-york-2024-election\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">declined<\/a> to prosecute.<\/p>\n<p>House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/jim-jordan-threatens-letitia-james-subpoena-trump-prosecutor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wrote<\/a> in a May 15 letter to James seeking information on Colangelo that his targeting of \u201cPresident Biden\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-durham-probe\/\" title=\"Everything You Need To Know About The Durham Probe\">chief political rival<\/a> only adds to the perception that the Biden Justice Department is politicized and weaponized.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>George Washington Law School professor Jonathan Turley described Merchan\u2019s decision to keep part of Trump\u2019s gag order in place as \u201cnonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Trump\u2019s] gotten a bit of a half loaf here, but the question is, \u2018Why is Merchan still operating this throttle control over what a presidential candidate can say or not say?&#8217;\u201d Turley asked.<\/p>\n<p>He noted when the trial is over, a gag order normally goes away.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\ud835\uddd5\ud835\uddff\ud835\uddf2\ud835\uddee\ud835\uddf8\ud835\uddf6\ud835\uddfb\ud835\uddf4 \ud835\udde1\ud835\uddf2\ud835\ude04\ud835\ude00:<br \/> Under pressure, Judge Merchan, on the Manhattan case has \u2018partially\u2019 lifted his gag order against Donald Trump, until sentencing on July 11th.<br \/> Professor Jonathan Turley explains: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aAQoiBzaCa\">pic.twitter.com\/aAQoiBzaCa<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Marla Hohner (@marlahohner) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/marlahohner\/status\/1805662100892926012?\">June 25, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cTo not acknowledge that this is a presidential campaign, and this is one of the big issues in that presidential campaign, I think, is really nonsense,\u201d Turley said.<\/p>\n<p>Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung in a Tuesday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2024\/06\/25\/trump-gag-order-partly-lifted-in-hush-money-case-ahead-of-first-presidential-debate.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a> hammered Merchan for deciding not to remove the entire order.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is another unlawful decision by a highly conflicted judge, which is blatantly un-American as it gags President Trump, the leading candidate in the 2024 Presidential Election during the upcoming Presidential Debate on Thursday,\u201d Cheung said.<\/p>\n<p>It is high time to prevent New York state and the Biden DOJ from interfering any further in November\u2019s election.<\/p>\n<p>Enough is enough.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<div id=\"author-info-44657\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/author\/randydesoto\/\">  <\/a> <\/p>\n<div>\n<p><label for=\"summary-tab-radio-44657\">Summary<\/label><label for=\"more-info-tab-radio-44657\">More<span> Biographical Information<\/span><\/label><label for=\"posts-tab-radio-44657\">Recent<span> Posts<\/span><\/label><label for=\"contact-tab-radio-44657\" onclick=\"if( typeof grecaptcha=='undefined' ) { let cap_s=document.createElement( 'script' ); cap_s.src='https:\/\/www.google.com\/recaptcha\/api.js?render=6LeJFcsUAAAAAPsIEqvB1EebWbZfqRUe6ebMpGy7'; document.body.appendChild( cap_s ); }\">Contact<\/label><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Randy DeSoto has written more than 3,000 articles for The Western Journal since he joined the company in 2015. He is a graduate of West Point and Regent University School of Law. He is the author of the book &#8220;We Hold These Truths&#8221; and screenwriter of the political documentary &#8220;I Want Your Money.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>  Birthplace <\/p>\n<p>  Harrisburg, Pennsylvania <\/p>\n<p>  Nationality <\/p>\n<p>  American <\/p>\n<p>  Honors\/Awards <\/p>\n<p>  Graduated dean&#8217;s list from West Point <\/p>\n<p>  Education <\/p>\n<p>  United States Military Academy at West Point, Regent University School of Law <\/p>\n<p>  Books Written <\/p>\n<p>  We Hold These Truths <\/p>\n<p>  Professional Memberships <\/p>\n<p>  Virginia and Pennsylvania state bars <\/p>\n<p>  Location <\/p>\n<p>  Phoenix, Arizona <\/p>\n<p>  Languages Spoken <\/p>\n<p>  English <\/p>\n<p>  Topics of Expertise <\/p>\n<p>  Politics, Entertainment, Faith <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Judge Juan Merchan, overseeing Donald Trump&#8217;s New York hush-money case, has partially lifted a gag order on the former president. However, CNBC reported that an entirely unacceptable aspect of the order remains in effect<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":662,"featured_media":2283598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Trump-vs-Merchan-gag-order-debate.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[3896,32656,32749,3777,3634],"class_list":["post-2283597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-debate","tag-gag-order","tag-judge-merchan","tag-relief","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Trump-vs-Merchan-gag-order-debate.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2283597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2283597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2283597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2283598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2283597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2283597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2283597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}