Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy McCarthy said on Tuesday that Judge Juan Merchan’s decision to only partially lift the gag order against former President Donald Trump appeared to be a “political” decision and that it wasn’t legally necessary for it to remain in effect.
Merchan partially lifted the gag order on Trump Tuesday ahead of the first presidential debate Thursday, but left in place significant limitations barring the former president from criticizing certain prosecutors. McCarthy on Fox News said Merchan’s motivations must be “political” as there is no legal basis for the order remaining in place against Trump, especially given the judge has “leverage” on him due to his sentencing approaching.
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“I also think that what they’re doing here is defining incitement down and defining other crimes down,” McCarthy said. “In other words, if Trump commits incitement, you know, if he actually says something that would directly cause imminent harm, you can charge him with that. If he obstructs justice, if he intimidates jurors or the like, you can charge him with that. They don’t have that kind of evidence so what they’re trying to do is have the sweeping order that treats him as if he’s already been convicted of these things that they don’t have evidence to bring against him.”
“And the purpose of it is obviously political … the trial is over, there’s no need for this other than to impinge on what he can say in debates and on the public stage,” he continued. “And frankly, the judge is going to sentence him on July 11th. How much more leverage does Merchan need over Trump than being able to sentence him in a few weeks?”
Trump is now allowed to talk about witnesses like porn star Stormy Daniels and his former attorney Michael Cohen, but he is still unable to discuss other individuals included in the order, including prosecutors on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team, until his sentence is imposed. The remaining limitations bar him from talking about Matthew Colangelo, who spent two years at President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice before joining Bragg’s office in December 2022.
“Until sentence is imposed, all individuals covered by Paragraph (b) must continue to perform their lawful duties free from threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm,” Merchan wrote.
Trump’s July 11 sentencing is just days before the Republican National Convention on July 15.
