Trump Tries Sneaky Move To Avoid Violating Gag Order. Judge Will See Through It, Top Attorney Says

I think most of us know by now that there’s nothing Donald Trump won’t try when it comes to violating gag orders. It’s quite obvious by now that the former president simply thinks he should be immune to punishment whenever he does this. And why not? So far his “punishment” for violating gag orders has been a mere slap on the wrist. He hasn’t faced any real consequences.

But now, Trump is trying a new game and this hasn’t gone unnoticed by former White House ethics lawyer Jim Schultz. He says he believes the New York judge in the former president’s hush money case will still find his social media posts where he quotes others as violating the gag order in the case, according to The Hill.

“he’s referencing the jurors, he’s he’s pushing out something that someone else said, yes,” schultz, who served in the Trump administration told Cnn News Central anchor sara sidner on thursday. “but the bottom line is, it applies to him, right?”

This doesn’t surprise me at all. Especially when you consider this is happening during his hush-money trial where payments were allegedly made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep her from speaking out as Trump’s 2016 election campaign was underway. So Trump trying to slide by with quote tweets is just another level of sneaky. And Schultz is wise to this.

“so, i think the judge is gonna see this as a violation of the gag order and get ready, they’re gonna continue and continue and continue,” he said. “sure, the judge can fine him, he could admonish him. He could do a lot of things in the courtroom. he’s not gonna throw him in jail.”

“this trial’s still gonna continue,” he noted. “And you’re still gonna hear from donald trump on truth social.”

Schultz’s comments follow Trump’s actions on Wednesday, where he indirectly attacked prospective jurors in the case Wednesday, by quoting Fox News host Jesse Watters. As a condition of the extended gag order, Trump is prohibited from “making or directing others to make public statements about any prospective juror or any juror in this criminal proceeding.”

Trump, posting to Truth Social, quoted Watters as saying: “They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury.”

That, of course, sounds like pure AAA b.s., but if those purported “liberal activists” are doing this, I say more power to them.

And Schultz isn’t the first legal expert to question whether Trump’s actions could be considered a violation of the gag order. Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin made the same inference earlier in the week.

“i think it’s false, but more importantly, it’s clearly, i think, an attempt to intimidate jurors,” toobin said, “and it is clearly barred by the gag order in this case.”

You’d think Trump would try to make nice with the jurors. They would be more in his favor, but that’s not how he rolls. It’s nutty that he prefers to alienate them instead. Especially considering what the outcome of the trial could be.

“donald trump doesn’t seem to realize he is now a criminal defendant, and criminal defendants have different and lesser rights than ordinary citizens,” toobin explained. “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 is just not permissible.”

Permissible or not, Trump thinks he’s above the law and he’ll just keep doing what he’s doing until someone finally smacks him with something that prohibits him from violating gag orders.

If Trump were smart, he’d tried to win favor with the jurors, instead of trying to intimidate them. If he keeps this up, which he almost certainly will, I think we can safely assume these jurors will decide against him.

He really is facing prison time, but he’s too dim to know it.