April 23, 2024 4:09 PM ET
Fact check: President Trump falsely explains gag order restrictions
From CNN’s Daniel Dale
Former President Donald Trump spoke after leaving Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on Tuesday.
Yuki Iwamura/Pool/Reuters
As he left the courtroom on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump approached media cameras and began speaking, complaining that he was “not allowed to speak.”
Trump had criticized Judge Juan Melchán’s gag order against him. Marchan is holding a hearing Tuesday morning to consider prosecutors’ claims that Trump violated the gag order in a series of online posts, including a series of posts by potential Republican presidential nominees about the incident on social media. Also included were people who shared other people’s articles related to .
President Trump claimed that he was not even allowed to publish the article. He claimed that the article he was referring to said, “This incident is fake,” adding, “I don’t even know if it’s allowed to be published.” He also claimed that while others are allowed to lie and talk about him, “I’m not allowed to say anything.”
President Trump said, “I want to talk to you all. I want to say everything that’s on my mind, but I’m restricted because of the gag order.”
- speaking publicly or directing another person to speak publicly about known or foreseeable witnesses, especially their participation in the case;
- Making public statements or directing others to make public statements about any prosecutor other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. This includes staff of Mr. Bragg’s office and the court and their families if the statements were made with the intent to disrupt the case.
- Speaking publicly or directing another person to speak publicly about a juror or prospective juror;
In his comments Tuesday, President Trump said that while the article may have a specific headline condemning the incident in general, “somewhere deep down” in the text, he mentions it for the gag. It was pointed out that someone’s name may have been mentioned who is not authorized to do so. order. It’s unclear how Marchan would view, for example, Trump sharing an article in which a witness’ name is only mentioned deep in the text. But so far, prosecutors have revealed that Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is a likely witness to the article alleging that Trump violated the gag order. The headline of the special feature article was published.
