Judge Merchán Expands Gag Rule Against Trump in His New York Criminal Trial

The judge Juan Merchan This Monday expanded the gag law applied to the former president of the USA donald trump (2017-2021) in the criminal trial that begins April 15 in New York prohibit him from making comments about both the magistrate’s family and the prosecutor’s family Alvin Braga.

The order amends one issued last week that prohibited him from commenting on potential witnesses, lawyers, court employees and even family members of prosecutors or lawyers, but which did not include Merchán or Bragg or their family members, reports The New York Times.

LOOK HERE: Bittersweet day for Trump: Bail looser but closer to his first criminal trial

The case revolves around irregular payments to the porn actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign to buy silence about a romance between the two.

For Juan Merchanfrom him “The pattern of attacks on the families of jurists and lawyers assigned to their cases has no legitimate purpose”.

“It simply injects fear into those designated or called to participate in the process, that not only they, but also their families, are “easy prey”.‘” he noted in his writing.

Last Thursday, on his Truth Social network, donald trump He accused Merchán’s daughter, said she admitted to having spoken to the father of the case and therefore indicated that the judge should be removed from the case.

In statements reported by The New York Times, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, Steven Cheungdescribed Monday’s order as unconstitutional, considering that it deprives Americans of hearing their voice”no censorship of the main candidate”To the White House.

When the gag rule was first imposed, the judge argued that Trump had committed in the past “extrajudicial statements” who went far beyond his own defense, to become “threatening, defamatory or degrading”.

MORE INFORMATION: Donald Trump attacks Judge Merchán and his daughter despite gag law

“The consequences of these statements – he noted then – not only included frightening some of the individuals involved, but also meant allocating security resources to investigate the threats and protect these individuals and their families.”.

The long-awaited trial against Trump, the first criminal trial ever opened against a former president of the country, will begin on the 15th with jury selection.

The tycoon faces 34 charges of fraud and associates for falsifying documents to hide the payment he made in 2016 to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels and thus buy her silence about an extramarital relationship she allegedly had with him, although Trump denies it.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.