A former official with the New York Police Department (NYPD) reacted to the Daily Caller’s report on New York State Supreme Justice Juan Merchan’s gag order placed on former President Donald Trump.
Allies of the former president told the Caller they are furious with the gag order, which prevents Trump from speaking about officials or jurors involved in the hush money case. The judge held him in contempt of court for allegedly violating the gag order and issued a $9,000 fine.
Trump’s team said the gag order ties the hands of the entire campaign ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
“The gag order says it applies to the president himself, and then it prevents him from instructing or ordering anybody else to do it. So, legally, that basically applies to anybody who works for him. And since he is considered basically the chairman of the campaign or the top dog on the campaign, the campaign applies to everybody who is on campaign staff,” one source told the Caller. (RELATED: ‘Election Interference’: Bragg Case Gag Order Puts Unprecedented Limitations On Trump Campaign)
Attorney Paul Mauro told Fox News’ Harris Faulkner the case is evidently “rigged against” the former president, given that Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen is permitted to make money on TikTok live streams where he posted a caricature of Trump in an orange jumpsuit online.
“If you’re looking at Michael Cohen going on TikTok to make a buck by criticizing and essentially caricaturing Donald Trump, and yet Donald Trump is not in any way allowed to file a rejoinder in the public sphere, and that is to say Michael Cohen has crossed the line and isn’t telling the truth, you really start to feel that this whole thing is rigged against him and that’s just how it feels,” Mauro said Friday.
Trump and his campaign have been barred from speaking about Cohen and Michael Colangelo, the lead prosecutor in the case who previously worked as acting attorney general in the Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ).
“The Democrats are following very closely, whatever is said on TRUTH social, whatever is posted on the campaign website, and then it’s immediately getting filtered up to Alvin Bragg who has very easy channels of communication, which are pretty firmly established between the Democrats and in his office,” the source familiar told the Caller.
Mike Davis, president of the Article III Project, told the Caller these “unconstitutional” restrictions have never before been placed on a presidential candidate.
“This unconstitutional and un-American gag order is yet another weapon used by Biden and his henchmen to silence his chief political rival, President Trump. Michael Cohen and others can go make money trashing Trump, yet he can’t respond due to this illegal gag order,” Davis said. “So as a result, all of Trump’s opposition can run roughshod over him without worrying about what Trump will say to counter their arguments. This gag order sets a dangerous precedent moving forward.”
Trump is sitting on trial relating to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s 34-count indictment alleging how the former president falsified business records to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment from Cohen to former porn actress Stormy Daniels. The prosecution is arguing Trump used these alleged payments to interfere in the 2016 presidential election by keeping an alleged affair he had with Daniels undisclosed.
Trump has denied the affair allegations and pleaded not guilty to all charges.