Former President Donald Trump caught a break this week when New York Judge Juan Merchan partially lifted the gag order from the Manhattan hush money case, which saw the former president convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
But to hear it from former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner on his "Justice Matters" show, "there is a silver lining to this one" for those fearful of the danger Trump poses.
"On the one hand, yes, that is very concerning because we fear for the witnesses and the jurors and others, because we know what Trump is not only capable of, but what he often does with his reckless, violence-inducing rhetoric and posts about everybody who's trying to hold him accountable for his crimes ... but on the other hand, it really is in accordance with the law."
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Any disclosure of identifying information about a juror is still prohibited, noted the judge in his order, even as other aspects of the gag order fall. Moreover, Kirschner noted, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office did not object to the partial lifting of the gag order. The judge "did what he had to do," because the stage of the case has changed.
And additionally, he added, this decision could easily "come back to bite Donald Trump."
Specifically, he argued, "the silver lining, as I see it, is ... how many of you think Donald Trump will begin posting and saying things about the witnesses that are harassing and intimidating and threatening and perhaps even violence-inducing? Yeah, me too. And one of the important considerations when it comes time to sentence Defendant Donald Trump for his 34 felony convictions is, what kind of a danger does Donald Trump pose to others?" His behavior unconstrained by a gag order, Kirschner concluded, could lead him to a harsher sentence.
"If it took a gag order ... to keep Donald Trump from endangering witnesses, jurors, and others, and once those judicial restraints were lifted he went right back to doing it, if I'm one of the prosecutors on District Attorney Alvin Bragg's Team, you can bet I'm putting that in my sentencing memorandum."
Watch the video below or at the link.
Judge Merchan Lifts Trump's NY Gag Order, But There IS a Silver Lining Come Sentencing Time www.youtube.com