Trump’s Gag Order Partially Lifted By New York Judge — Now Free to Attack the Jury

Judge Juan Merchan , who presided over the hush money trial of former President Donald Trump , partially lifted the gag order against Trump on Tuesday.

While some restrictions remain in place, Trump is now allowed to publicly comment on witnesses and members of the jury. He is still not allowed to talk about the prosecutors or officers of the court. Trump’s lawyers pushed to strike down the gag order after the trial was over; Trump was convicted on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Trump was found in contempt of court for violating the gag order ten times. On those occasions, he either appeared on TV or posted on Truth Social to make veiled or blatant threats to several figures in the trial including Merchan, Michael Cohen , and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg . Trump was fined $10,000 for the violations.

Merchan wrote in his order on Tuesday, referring to “known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses” described in Paragraph (a), Bragg, his family, his staff, and other legal staff for the prosecution in Paragraph (b), and jurors in Paragraph (c):

The trial portion of these proceedings ended when the verdict was rendered, and the jury discharged. Therefore, Paragraph (a) is terminated without opposition by the People. As to Paragraph (c), while it would be this Court’s strong preference to extend those protections, the Court cannot do so on what is now a different record than what the appellate courts relied upon when they rendered their rulings. Therefore, Paragraph (c) must be terminated. Nonetheless, there is ample evidence to justify continued concern for the jurors. Therefore, the protections set forth in this Court’s Protective Order of March 7,2024, Regulating Disclosure of Juror Information will remain in effect until further order of this Court.

Regarding Paragraph (b), this Court notes that while witness testimony has concluded, a verdict has been rendered, and the jury discharged – the proceedings are not concluded. This matter has been set down for the imposition of sentence on July 11,2024. Until sentence is imposed, all individuals covered by Paragraph (b) must continue to perform their lawful duties free from threats , intimidation, harassment, and hate.

Trump will return to court on July 11 to face sentencing. The partial lift on this gag order comes just in time for the first presidential debate.

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This story has been updated.