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President Trump said on Friday that he was planning to file a constitutional motion aimed at removing Judge Juan Merchan’s ongoing gag order against him in the criminal trial unfolding in the heart of Manhattan.
Earlier this week, Trump was held in contempt of court for violating the gag order nine alleged times, resulting in a fine of $9,000, as well as a warning that future violations could result in jail time, via RSBN.
President Trump has derided the gag order for weeks, which bars him from speaking about prosecutors, witnesses, courtroom officials, and their families. However, prosecutors, witnesses, courtroom officials, and their families do not have to remain silent.
Shortly before entering the courtroom on Friday morning, Trump responded to a question from the press about whether the gag order would prevent him from testifying.
The president replied, “The gag order is not for testifying, the gag order stops me from talking about people and responding when they say things about me. We have people saying things about me and I’m not allowed to respond. So this judge is taking away my constitutional right, and as the Republican candidate and somebody’s who leading Biden by a lot, I should be able to respond.”
Trump added, “We’re filing, I think, today, a constitutional motion to get this out. We’ll be filing a lawsuit on the constitutionality of it, but if somebody says something about me and I’m not allowed to respond – that’s never happened before.”
The president also posted a statement about Judge Merchan on Friday morning on Truth Social, writing, “This Corrupt and HIGHLY Conflicted New York Judge, Juan Merchan, is doing everything in his power to make this trial as salacious as possible, even though these things have NOTHING to do with this FAKE case.”
He called the trial “ELECTION INTERFERENCE – BIDEN WITCH HUNT TRIAL!”
