The judge who oversaw Donald Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan agreed to partially lift a gag order on the former president Tuesday.

“Until sentence is imposed, all individuals covered by Paragraph (b)” – referring to members of the court staff, the district attorney’s staff and their families – “must continue to perform their lawful duties free from threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm,” Merchan wrote in the ruling.

And although he struck the portion of the gag order pertaining to jurors, Merchan wrote that it would be his “strong preference” to extend those protections because there remains “ample evidence to justify continued concern for the jurors.”

Someone help make sense of this. Why would you lift the gag order off jurors but not yourself?

  • pleasejustdie@lemmy.worldEnglish
    45·
    5 months ago

    Because harassing the Jurors won’t change the outcome of the case since the Jurors have already done everything they are going to do, so harassing them can no longer harm the case, which is probably his primary concern. He obviously would prefer that Trump not attack them, but he’s giving Trump rope and a warning, so we’ll see if Trump ignores the rope, or if he can’t help himself but to open his mouth and stick his head in it.

    • SeaJ@lemm.ee
      32·
      5 months ago

      I feel like Trump is constantly given rope and he always sticks his head in. The rope seems to be infinitely slack for him though.