Judge Revokes Donald Trump's 'Gag Order'

The judge in the 'hush money' case revoked the ruling that prohibited Donald Trump from commenting on individuals related to this case, allowing the former U.S. President to speak about witnesses and jurors in this court. According to this 'gag order', other involved parties were not allowed to comment on the trial and its surrounding issues until the final ruling on July 13. On May 30, Trump was convicted by the jury in this case of document forgery aimed at concealing a potential sexual scandal during the 2016 election campaign. This marks the first time in U.S. history that a former president has been convicted of a crime. Juan Merchan, the judge in this case, issued this ruling on Tuesday, July 5, just before the first televised debate between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Trump has been fined for 'violating the gag order' for the tenth time. During the trial, the former president was fined ten times for 'violating the gag order'. The new ruling on the violation of the 'gag order' paves the way for Trump's verbal attacks, as the Republican candidate, on Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer, Stormy Daniels, a former porn star who was paid hush money, and other court witnesses. Trump's lawyers had requested the judge to lift the 'gag order' as it no longer had legal validity after the trial concluded, restricting his freedom of speech under the First Amendment. Trump also claimed that while Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels targeted him, he could not defend himself due to the judge's ruling. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office had asked the judge to maintain the 'gag order' regarding jurors, court staff, and members of the prosecutor's office at least until the final ruling. The prosecution clarified last week that, given the end of the trial, the prohibition on commenting could be lifted regarding witnesses but opposed lifting it concerning jurors. At the end of the hush money case, Donald Trump was convicted of 34 counts of felony in falsifying business records. The prosecution states that Trump attempted to conceal the payment of hush money to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election campaign by falsifying these records. Stormy Daniels claims she had a sexual relationship with the former president about ten years ago, but Trump denies the allegation.