The legal team of former President Trump tried to justify Trump’s alleged violations of the gag order by arguing that they were only in response to Tuesday’s attacks by witnesses Michael Cohen, and Stormy Daniels.
Todd Blanche, the attorney representing Trump, was unable to provide any examples when Judge Juan Merchan requested them. Merchan was visibly irritated by the latest exchange of the New York vs. Trump case. He warned Blanche that she had “lost all credibility before the court”.
Blanche objected and said the prosecution took as much time as they wanted to discuss the earlier gag order violations.
Merchan replied, “They answered my questions.”
He continued, “The DA’s office presented 10 exhibits while the defense presented nothing.” “I asked you eight or 9 times to show me the exact post he responded to, and you weren’t able to do it once.”
Blanche tried to justify Trump’s other alleged violations of gag orders by arguing they were political and that it was unreasonable to expect him to remain silent while a candidate for the presidency. He said that situations in which Trump reposts an article from another source, like a news site, are not violations.
Merchan, however, objected to this line of argument and asked how an article like that would appear on Trump’s account without Trump’s approval.
It’s your client that believes that when he reposted these things he did not violate the gag order? Merchan asked.