Donald Trump criticizes gag order, accuses 'crazy Kamala Harris' of exploiting his hush money case
WASHINGTON, DC: Donald Trump has intensified his rhetoric against the gag order in his New York hush money case, invoking Vice President Kamala Harris and alleging that her election campaign is leveraging the order against him.
In a Truth Social post on Friday, August 2, the former president wrote, “Can anybody believe that I am still under a harsh Gag Order, placed on me by a Highly Conflicted, Unelected, and Acting New York Judge which makes it very difficult to Campaign, especially when Crazy Kamala Harris is using this Witch Hunt against me.”
Donald Trump's hush money trial gag order challenge rejected
On Thursday, August 1, a New York appeals court rejected a challenge from Donald Trump's lawyers to remove the gag order in the hush money case after his conviction, according to The Hill.
The latest ruling by Judge Juan Merchan slightly eased the restrictions, allowing Trump to make public comments about witnesses and the juries in the case. However, he is still restricted from commenting about the prosecutors.
Throughout the trial, Trump has been able to launch attacks against Judge Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
On May 30, the former president was found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business documents related to hush money to former adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
Donald Trump alleges continuation of his gag order infringes his First Amendment rights
Donald Trump has repeatedly argued that issuing the gag order violates his First Amendment rights, and imposes unfair restraints on his election campaign.
In his Truth Social post, the 78-year-old politician described the case as a "scam” and a “hoax.”
“Story after story has been written that the Judge had no right to do what he did, that it was a political decision against the Opponent of Crooked Joe Biden and Crazy Kamala,” wrote Trump.
However, there is no evidence linking Harris of President Joe Biden to Trump's hush money criminal case.
Donald Trump's call for hush money case termination
Donald Trump has proposed that the hush money criminal case against him should be terminated based on the presidential immunity ruling by the Supreme Court granting criminal immunity for any official acts made by a president.
“The Gag Order should be voided at once and, based on the Immunity Decision just handed down by the United States Supreme Court, and for many other reasons this case should be IMMEDIATELY terminated!” the former US president wrote in his Truth Social post.
