Former White House ethics lawyer Jim Schultz said he thinks the New York judge in former President Trump’s case will still find his social media posts naming others as violating the gag order in the case.
“He’s referring to the jurors, he’s putting out something that someone else said, yes,” said Schultz, who served in the Trump administration. he said on “CNN News Central” to feature Sara Sidner on Thursday. “But the bottom line is that this applies to him, right?”
“So I think the judge is going to see this as a violation of the gag order and brace themselves, they’re going to go on and on and on,” he continued. “Of course, the judge can fine you, he can warn you. He could do a lot of things in court. He’s not going to throw you in prison.”
“This trial will still continue,” Schultz added. “And you’ll even hear from Donald Trump on Truth Social.”
His comments came after Trump indirectly attacked potential jurors in the case on Wednesday, citing Fox News host Jesse Watters. The former president, under the expanded gag order, is prohibited from “making or ordering others to make public statements about any potential juror or any juror in this criminal case.”
In his post, Trump quoted Watters as saying, “They are catching undercover liberal activists lying to the judge to get on Trump’s jury.”
Schultz was not the first legal scholar to question whether the measure would be considered a violation of the order. Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin made the same inference earlier this week.
“I think it’s false, but what’s more important is that it’s clearly, I think, an attempt to intimidate the jurors,” Toobin said, “and it’s clearly barred by the gag order in this case.”
“Donald Trump doesn’t seem to realize that he is now a criminal defendant, and criminal defendants have different and lesser rights than ordinary citizens,” Toobin continued. “They are not allowed to interfere in the trial process – especially when there is a gag order that specifically addresses attempts to intimidate jurors. I mean, it’s just not allowed.”
The trial, which began on Monday, is the first criminal trial of a former or former president in US history. Jury selection, which lasted several days, concluded Friday and the trial will continue next week.
The case centers on allegations that Trump falsified business records to hide a secret payment made to an adult film star to hide an alleged affair before the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty.
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