New York Judge Juan Merchan has lifted a portion of the gag order against Donald Trump, allowing him to discuss witnesses or jurors in the case in which he was found guilty of 34 felonies. Trump can now go after witnesses, like adult film actor Stormy Daniels and his former attorney Michael Cohen, for their testimony. And he can comment on the jurors, though a prohibition on releasing personal information about jurors remains in effect.
For the witnesses in this case, especially Cohen and Daniels, this is a moment they knew they would have to face eventually. Both have faced Trump’s attacks for years. Daniels suffered an invasion of her home. Cohen has repeatedly been the victim of doxing and death threats.
But that Merchan allowed Trump to comment on the jurors in advance of his July 11 sentencing is surprising. The Manhattan district attorney’s office had asked Merchan to keep the ban on comments about jurors in place, but Merchan ended it while leaving court officials and their families protected.
Trump supporters have already made extensive efforts to dox the jurors. Now they’ll have the aid and encouragement of Trump.
“Dox the Jurors. Dox them now,” one Trump supporter wrote on the day after he was found guilty, according to NBC News.
“We need to identify each juror. Then make them miserable. Maybe even suicidal,” wrote another.
“I hope every juror is doxxed and they pay for what they have done,” wrote a third. “May God strike them dead. We will on November 5th and they will pay!”
But even as his supporters have railed against the jurors, Trump has had to remain largely silent. Until now.
With the debate only two days away, Trump’s handlers are likely aware that going after jurors performing their civil duty may not be the best look. However, Trump may not be able to resist.
The connection between Trump’s statements and his followers’ violence is well established. One Trump statement in mid-May, where he dismissed Merchan’s courtroom as a “kangaroo court,” generated immediate death threats, NBC News reports.
“Treason is a hangable offense,” wrote one Trump supporter. “They should all be executed,” wrote another.
Those were actually the milder statements. Other Trump supporters called for Merchan to be “strangled with piano wire” or to get a “hatchet to the face.” Trump’s followers also called for the death of Merchan’s daughter.
In the trial’s initial stages, Trump made a series of claims about the process of jury selection. That included Trump repeating false claims from Fox News that the jury was being infiltrated by “undercover Liberal Activists.” This claim stemmed from a Fox News segment that provided information on jurors’ occupations and physical descriptions. Trump also claimed that the jury was “95% Democrats.”
When he originally issued the gag order, Merchan noted that he was protecting jurors because Trump had “an extensive history of publicly and repeatedly attacking trial jurors and grand jurors.” He gave Trump an explicit warning against “any harassing or disruptive conduct that threatens the safety or integrity of the jury.”
That portion of the order has now been relaxed. Whether Trump will let the debate or his sentencing affect what he has to say will probably be answered shortly.
