A judge has partially lifted a gag order on Donald Trump in his hush money case in New York, where he was found guilty last month of falsifying company records.
Trump may now make public comments about witnesses in the case and speak generally about jurors in his trial, Judge Juan Merchan wrote in a ruling Tuesday.
The former president is still banned from speaking publicly about court personnel, prosecutors and their families.
The identities of the jurors, which are being kept secret due to the high-profile nature of the trial, will also remain protected, Judge Merchan said.
Trump has repeatedly spoken out against the silence order, which he says is unconstitutional.
In a statement Tuesday, his spokesperson called Judge Merchan’s decision “yet another unlawful decision by a highly contradictory judge hush money case.”
Judge Merchan first imposed a silence order on Trump in late March, but expanded it a week later after Trump attacked the judge’s daughter on social media.
Trump was ultimately fined thousands and threatened with jail time for violating the order during his trial.
His legal team asked for the full gag order to be lifted after a New York jury found Trump guilty in May hush money case. He was convicted of falsifying company records to cover up a hush money payment to an adult film star before the 2016 election.
Prosecutors did not object to lifting the part of the gag order that prevented Trump hush money case from commenting on witnesses.
The former president had posted several messages on social media attacking the prosecution’s key witness, his former lawyer, Michael Cohen.
Trump had argued that he was simply responding to attacks from Cohen, who had called him a variety of names on social media.
As for the jurors, Judge Merchan said in his ruling that it would be “the strong preference of this Court” to continue to bar Trump from speaking about the panel.
“[T]here is sufficient evidence to justify the continued concern for the jurors,” he wrote.
But, he said, consistency in the courts required Trump to be able to comment about jurors without revealing their identities hush money case.
During his trial, Trump was fined for comments he made criticizing the 12-member panel, claiming it was “95%” Democratic.
The former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee is still banned from speaking about prosecutors, court staff and their families because even if a verdict is handed down, their duties are still not complete, Judge Merchan said hush money case.
“Until punishment is imposed, all individuals… must continue to perform their lawful duties, free from threats, intimidation, intimidation and harm,” he wrote.
Trump will be sentenced on July 11. He is the first former president ever to be criminally convicted.
