(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Trump wants out of his gag order, but the threat of harm remains [1] ['Daily Kos Staff'] Date: 2024-06-05 Now that Donald Trump has been found guilty of 34 felony counts for falsifying documents to protect his 2016 campaign, his legal team has asked Justice Juan Merchan to lift the gag order that has been in place since March. Merchan put the order in place and expanded it after Trump used public appearances and social media to issue a series of messages critical of those connected with his New York trial. Trump’s attorneys claim that, with the trial over, “the concerns articulated by the government and the Court do not justify continued restrictions on the First Amendment rights of President Trump.” They also note that President Joe Biden made a statement concerning the outcome of the trial, making a case that Trump can’t fully respond with the ongoing gag order. However, the gag order doesn’t keep Trump from going after Biden in any way he pleases​​—including repeating false claims that Biden was behind the trial. And, even if Trump’s attorneys claim the gag order exists only “to protect the integrity of this criminal proceeding and avoid prejudice to the jury,” this past week has vividly illustrated that Trump and his supporters remain a threat to jurors, witnesses, prosecutors, and officers of the court. Trump may no longer be able to intimidate witnesses in this specific case or terrify jurors into voting against conviction. That doesn’t mean the danger is over. Since the conviction, Trump supporters have attempted to dox jurors. Social media posts reviewed by NBC News not only contained violent threats against jurors, Merchan, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, many of those posts echoed “Trump’s rhetoric and false claims” about the trial. According to NBC and public interest group Advance Democracy, messages are being passed around by the same groups, and on the same forums, where Trump supporters organized in advance of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Included on some of those forums were the supposed names and addresses of jurors in the trial, along with posts calling for harassment and violence. Members of Michael Cohen's family have also been doxed in the past few days. That includes posting phone numbers and addresses for Cohen's wife and children on a site previously used to target others involved in charges against Trump. Cohen blames these posts, which identify Cohen as someone who “betrayed” Trump, for unwanted calls and text messages directed at his family members. Retired police officer Michael Fanone, one of the police officers injured when Trump supporters swarmed the Capitol Building, wasn’t directly involved in the trial. However, Fanone's 78-year-old mother was swatted (a cyber harassment technique with the goal of sending an armed emergency response team to a victim's location) immediately after he spoke outside the courtroom. A fake “manifesto” from Fanone was posted to multiple sites indicating that Fanone intended to attack a nearby high school. That generated a rapid, armed response by local authorities. Which is exactly the sort of act that has previously ended in the death of innocent victims of swatting. Jurors may no longer be able to decide Trump’s guilt, but Trump’s words can certainly represent a threat to their lives and those of their family members. Witnesses may no longer be intimidated to restrict what they say on the stand in Manhattan, but there are other trials ahead. Some of these witnesses may be called again. Other witnesses are certainly watching what happens in this case. Trump has made it vividly clear that those who remain silent gain significant rewards. The more Trump is allowed to attack Cohen, Stormy Daniels, and other witnesses in this case—and the more those attacks result in threats of violence by Trump’s supporters—the greater the pressure on every witness and potential witness in the three major trials ahead. Every future juror, every potential witness, every prosecutor and judge will be watching to see what happens to those who delivered a fair trial, thorough testimony, and a reasoned result. Bragg has submitted a letter arguing the gag order should remain in effect through the sentencing of post-trial motions. “The Court's Orders, however, were based not only on the need to avoid threats to the fairness of the trial itself,” Bragg wrote, “but also on the Court's broader ‘obligation to prevent actual harm to the integrity of the proceedings’; to protect ‘the orderly administration of this Court’; and to avoid ‘risk[s] to the administration of justice.’ … As the People will explain more fully in our written opposition to defendant's forthcoming motion, these interests have not abated.” However, Trump’s attorneys are right. This case is concluded. As nice as it would be, Merchan can’t limit Trump’s speech forever. Even if the order continues until Trump’s sentencing, it will be lifted soon. And Trump supporters are just waiting for orders. RELATED STORY: Trump braces for potential guilty verdict by inspiring threats of violence Donald Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records on May 30. What are potential voters saying about this historic news? And what is the Biden-Harris campaign doing now that the “teflon Don" is no more? [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/5/2244877/-Trump-wants-out-of-his-gag-order-but-the-threat-of-harm-remains?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_1&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/