Donald Trump Gagged on Social Media – A Georgia judge imposed a gag order on former President Donald Trump barring him from using social media to “intimidate” witnesses or codefendants in the RICO case being brought against him.
“The Defendant shall perform no act to intimidate any person known to him or her to be a codefendant or witness in this case or to otherwise obstruct the administration of justice,” Judge Scott McAffee wrote in his ruling.
The judge also imposed a $200,000 bond on Trump, who will turn himself in on Thursday.
He stands charged along with other codefendants including his former attorney Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell, and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
The order limits Trump to working through his counsel.
“The Defendant shall not communicate in any way, directly or indirectly, about the facts of this case with any person known to him to be a codefendant in this case except through his or her counsel,” the order said. “The Defendant shall not communicate in any way, directly or indirectly, about the facts of this case with any person known to him to be a witness in this case except through his or her counsel.”
Donald Trump Known For Outbursts On Social Media
Trump has been known to lash out at the judges and prosecutors in the cases that have been brought against him via his Truth Social account.
He raves against “Deranged Jack Smith,” the special counsel overseeing the January 6th and classified document cases. Trump caused a stir when he wrote on Truth Social, ““IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” and attacked his former Vice President Mike Pence, Special Counsel Jack Smith, and Judge Tanya Chutkin, the judge assigned to the January 6th case.
“So now that I have full Subpoena Power because of the Freedom of Speech Sham Indictment by Crooked Joe Biden, Deranged Jack Smith, and the DOJ, it has just been reported that the Unselect January 6th Committee of Political Hacks and Thugs has illegally destroyed their Records and Documents. This is unthinkable, and the Fake Political Indictment against me must be immediately withdrawn. The system is Rigged & Corrupt, very much like the Presidential Election of 2020. We are a Nation in Decline!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Juan Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump in May, but not before the former president lashed out at him on Truth Social.
“The Judge ‘assigned’ to my Witch Hunt Case, a ‘Case’ that has NEVER BEEN CHARGED BEFORE, HATES ME. His name is Juan Manuel Marchan,” Trump wrote.
Merchan ruled that Trump could not discuss the witnesses in the case or any evidence prosecutors plan to use against him.
Trump was limited to viewing the evidentiary material against him with his lawyers.
Smith unsuccessfully sought to impose a gag order against Donald Trump in the January 6th case but did not get what he desired. The judge instead warned Trump.
“I intend to ensure the orderly administration of justice in this case as I would with any other case,” Chutkan said in hearing on Smith’s motion. “The more a party makes inflammatory statements about this case which could taint the jury pool or intimidate potential witnesses, the greater the urgency will be that we proceed to trial to ensure a jury pool from which we can select an impartial jury.”
Finding an impartial jury in Washington, D.C., which voted by more than 90% for Joe Biden in 2020, and where animosity against Trump is high, could be next to impossible.
Democrats Call for Trump’s Imprisonment
Prominent Democrats called on the courts to throw the book at Trump and impose a gag order because he could end up in prison.
“The court must fully assert the rule of law during these proceedings, even if that requires threatening Trump with jail pending his trial. And if he continues to refuse to abide by the conditions of his release, it might be time to actually jail him,” former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich wrote in a Guardian column.
John Rossomando is a defense and counterterrorism analyst and served as Senior Analyst for Counterterrorism at The Investigative Project on Terrorism for eight years. His work has been featured in numerous publications such as The American Thinker, The National Interest, National Review Online, Daily Wire, Red Alert Politics, CNSNews.com, The Daily Caller, Human Events, Newsmax, The American Spectator, TownHall.com, and Crisis Magazine. He also served as senior managing editor of The Bulletin, a 100,000-circulation daily newspaper in Philadelphia, and received the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors first-place award for his reporting.
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