Trump lashes out at ex-lawyer Cohen ahead of hush money trial despite gag order
Donald Trump
Former United States President and Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump, on Saturday (Apr 13) once again attacked his former lawyer Michael Cohen despite a gag order in the case that prohibits him from making public statements about witnesses. The case on charges related to paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels is set to go to trial on April 15.
‘Disgraced attorney’
In a series of posts, on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump called Cohen – one of the likely witnesses in the upcoming trial – a “disgraced attorney and felon” and questioned how he hasn’t been “prosecuted for LYING.”
He added, “Only TRUMP people get prosecuted by this Judge and these thugs!”. Notably, Cohen is expected to be a key witness for the prosecution in the upcoming trial which will begin on Monday with the jury selection.
Also Read |Trump’s hush money case: Judge declines to delay historic trial over complaints of publicity
Trump, 77, is set to become the first-ever former US president to go on trial for criminal charges. The series of posts on Truth Social also came a day after the Republican frontrunner faced a string of defeats in various courts to delay the beginning of the trial.
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Gag order against Trump
The recent posts test the limits of the gag order against the former president which bars him from making public statements about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and their family members, but not Judge Juan Merchan or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
In March, Merchan, who is overseeing the trial, imposed a gag order on Trump on the prosecutors’ request to block him from speaking about the witnesses. A month later, the judge extended the order to cover his own family members and those of the Manhattan DA.
On Saturday, at a campaign rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, Trump reiterated his claims that he was a victim of political persecution and called the trial a “communist show”.
He added, “I will be forced to sit fully gagged. I’m not allowed to talk. They want to take away my constitutional right to talk.”
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the 34-count indictment, brought by Bragg, a Democrat, which includes charges of accounting fraud and falsifying business records to cover up the $130,000 payment to Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Also Read |Stormy Daniels hush money case: Trump’s historic criminal trial set for April 15
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges that he violated campaign finance law through the payment to Daniels. Trump’s ex-lawyer said that the former president had ordered him to make the payment and then arranged for him to be reimbursed.
Meanwhile, Trump has pleaded not guilty and has denied having sex with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
Earlier this week, the former president called both Cohen and Daniels – both of whom are likely to be prosecution witnesses in the upcoming trial – “sleaze bags.”
Cohen, on Saturday, took to X and said “when does enough become enough and the petulant man child gets a timeout in lockup for his bad behavior?”. He also said that Trump should be sanctioned for the “sleaze bag” comment.
(With inputs from agencies)