Former White House ethics lawyer Jim Schultz says the New York judge in former President Trump’s hush money case will rule that Trump’s social media posts quoting other people’s words violated the gag order in the case. He also said that it would be approved.
“He’s referring to the jury, he’s pushing what somebody said, yeah,” said Schultz, who served in the Trump administration. Said Thursday on “CNN News Central” with Sarah Sydner as anchor. “But at the end of the day, that applies to him, too, right?”
“So the judge is going to treat this as a violation of the gag order and be ready, they’re going to continue, continue, continue,” he continued. “Sure, the judge can fine him, he can warn him. He could do a lot of things in court. He’s not going to put him in jail.”
“This trial will continue,” Schultz added. “And you’ll continue to hear from Donald Trump on Truth Social.”
The remarks came after President Trump indirectly attacked potential jurors in the case on Wednesday, quoting Fox News host Jesse Watters. Under the expanded gag order, the former president is prohibited from “directing others to make public statements about potential jurors or the jurors in this criminal case.”
Trump quoted Watters as saying in his post: “They’re secretly capturing liberal activists who lied to judges to get on Trump juries.”
Schultz is not the first legal expert to question whether the move constitutes a violation of the order. Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin made the same reasoning earlier this week.
“I think it’s false, but more importantly, I think it’s clearly an attempt to intimidate the jury,” Toobin said, “and it’s clearly prohibited by the gag order in this case. ” he said.
“Donald Trump doesn’t seem to realize that he’s now a criminal defendant. Criminal defendants, unlike ordinary citizens, have fewer rights,” Toobin continued. “They’re not allowed to interfere in the trial process, especially if there’s a gag order that specifically deals with attempts to intimidate jurors. So that’s not allowed.”
The trial, which began Monday, is the first criminal trial in U.S. history against a sitting or former president. Jury selection, which lasted several days, was completed on Friday, and the trial will continue next week.
The lawsuit centers on allegations that President Trump falsified business records to hide hush money payments he made to an adult film star to conceal an alleged affair before the 2016 presidential election. He pleaded not guilty.
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