Until Tuesday, June 25, Donald Trump was prohibited, under penalty of fine, from speaking outside the courtroom to prosecution witnesses and jurors during his historic trial from April 15 to May 30.
Donald Trump regained his freedom of speech this Tuesday, June 25, regarding his criminal trial in New York, where he was found guilty at the end of May, a decision that comes two days before the presidential debate against Joe Biden.
Judge Juan Merchan signed off on lifting most of the restrictions he had placed on Donald Trump, according to a court document: He was barred, under penalty of fine, from speaking outside the courtroom to prosecution witnesses and jurors during his historic April 15 trial until 30 May. On the other hand, these restrictions still apply as to the identity and domicile of the jurors who found him guilty.
Judicial personnel as well as families of prosecutors and judges also remain protected by these speech restrictions (“gag orders”). But Judge Merchan himself and the New York State Attorney for Manhattan jurisdiction, Alvin Bragg, who investigated the whole case, are not: They were also amply insulted by Donald Trump or even threatened by anonymous persons.
Sentencing on Thursday 11 July
The final restrictions will be lifted only after the sentencing of the ex-president on July 11, who in theory risks a prison sentence.
“There is ample evidence to justify continued concern for jurors,” Judge Merchan wrote. And “until the sentence is passed, (judicial personnel) must continue to administer justice without feeling threatened, intimidated, harassed or even attacked,” the judge warned.
On May 30, the Manhattan criminal jury unanimously found Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying accounting documents to conceal the $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels just before the November 2016 presidential election.
This payment, the concealment of which was considered illegal, was intended to buy her silence about a sexual relationship that she claims to have had with Donald Trump (and which the latter denies), in 2006, when he was already married to his marriage Melania .
The 78-year-old former Republican president (2017-2021), who is seeking to become one again, will face his successor Joe Biden, 81, this Thursday in their first televised debate of the race to the November 5 election.
