Donald Trump is in the fight for his life in court. The case could go any direction at this point.
But a U.S. federal judge just made a surprise announcement about the Trump indictment case on MSNBC.
Former U.S. district Judge John E. Jones disagreed with the suggestion that Judge Juan Merchan should impose a gag order on allies of former President Donald Trump, despite pressure from two MSNBC hosts.
Trump himself is already under a gag order preventing him from commenting on certain individuals involved in his trial. However, when Republican Senator Rick Scott criticized some of these individuals, Jones told hosts Chris Jansing and Andrea Mitchell that Merchan shouldn’t extend the gag order to Trump’s associates.
Jansing raised concerns about comments made by Scott, who is close to Trump and potentially eyeing a vice presidential role, regarding the judge’s daughter and the lead prosecutor’s spouse. Jones dismissed this as “outside noise” for Merchan, emphasizing that judges often face external pressures in high-profile cases but shouldn’t be swayed by them. He pointed out that Merchan has been focused on conducting a fair trial despite such distractions.
“Let me start with what we just heard from Rick Scott,” MSNBC’s Jansing started out by saying to Judge John E. Jones.
“We know that Donald Trump is under a gag order and yet you have someone close to him, who would like to be potentially his vice presidential running mate, saying the judge’s daughter is a political operative who raises money for Democrats, the lead prosecutor’s wife a significant for Democrats. What is your reaction to that and is there anything Judge Merchan can or should do about people who are close to Donald Trump saying things maybe he can’t?” Jansing then asked.
“I don’t think so, Chris,” the former U.S. district Judge confidently claimed. The honorable Mr. Jones then went on to say that this is all just noise that Merchan needs to try and keep out of the courtroom because it’s not conducive to a proper trial.
“I think that’s so much outside noise to Judge Merchan. You know, when I was on the bench and I had a controversial case, I used to joke that I thought my name was changed to Bush-appointed judge because you get typecast in a certain way. I don’t find that as anything that Merchan is going to pay particular attention to. And quite honestly, you know, it sort of flies in the face of what we can see or hear with our own eyes in terms of the way the trial is being conducted,” the former federal judge added in his comments.
Merchan has already held Trump in contempt for violating the gag order ten times, imposing fines and warning of potential incarceration for further infractions. Mitchell questioned whether the gag order also applied to individuals close to Trump, to which Jones explained the challenges in enforcing it and establishing a direct link between Trump and his allies’ statements. He praised Merchan for effectively managing the trial and avoiding distractions that could derail proceedings.
Throughout the trial, Merchan’s rulings have generally favored the prosecution led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, often at the expense of Trump’s defense team. Prosecution requests have been granted more frequently than those of the defense, indicating a pattern of judicial favorability toward the prosecution.
MSNBC’s Andrew Mitchell tried to claim that Rick Scott is an example of someone “close to Trump” that falls under the tenets of the gag order put in place by Judge Merchan already, but the former Judge Jones completely blew up that narrative.
“He hasn’t had validators there for him, but doesn’t the gag order also say that people close to Trump, that it’s a violation for other people on his behalf to demean family of the court, anyone besides the judge and the prosecutors?” Mitchell then asked of former Judge Jones.
Jones noted that there would have to be a claim made that Trump was specifically operating with Rick Scott to make the comments that Scott made. Otherwise, this is just a matter of free speech. Not everyone who has ever been associated with Trump can be gagged for expressing their First Amendment rights.
“Well, first of all, the people would have to act and the person of the district attorney, the prosecutors to try to call him on that,” Jones first noted in his response.
“And then the problem becomes creating a nexus between the speaker and Donald Trump. You know, did he do it — did Scott volunteer it or was he goaded into doing it by Trump? It’s probably an area that Merchan and the prosecution doesn’t want to wade into,” he went on to say.
Donald Trump’s critics suffering from TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) just want to see anyone and everyone get pulled down with Trump along the way. This is a clear case of expressing First Amendment rights and the talking heads at MSNBC know this full and well.
The most critical part of the honorable Judge Jones’ comments is that this has all been turned into a political game. He noted how even when he was a judge, it was all about how he was a “Bush Judge” rather than just being seen as an unbiased and fair judge with a conservative jurisprudence.
You can watch the clip from MSNBC below:
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