The judge handling former President Trump’s hush money lawsuit reiterated Friday that Trump is permitted to speak during the trial, contradicting the former president’s claim a day earlier that a gag order barred him from doing so.
At the outset of Friday’s sessions in the case, Judge Juan Merchan stated that it had come to his attention that there may be a misunderstanding concerning the gag order and Trump’s capacity to testify, which he felt was essential to clarify.
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“I want to stress, Mr. Trump, that you have an absolute right to testify at trial,” Merchan said before the jury entered the room. “Just as you have the absolute right not to testify,”
Merchan explained that the gag order only applies to statements made outside of court and does not prevent him from testifying.
After Thursday’s sessions concluded, a press conference asked Trump about Keith Davidson’s testimony, prompting the judge’s remarks.
“Well, I cannot testify,” he said. I am under a gag order. “I suppose,” he remarked, looking at his attorney, Todd Blanche, who nodded.
Mr. Trump stated, “This judge, who is totally conflicted, has me under an unconstitutional gag order, which prevents me from testifying.” “Nobody’s ever had that before, and we don’t like it; it’s not fair.”
The case prohibits the former president from making public statements about the jurors or witnesses involved. The law also prohibits Trump from attacking court workers, line prosecutors, or their families, as well as the judges’ and district attorney’s families, with the intention of materially disrupting the proceedings. Merchan penalized Trump $9,000 earlier last week after he repeatedly violated the gag order.
Trump has previously stated that he is willing to testify at his own trial, most notably on April 12, following a meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) at his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida.
“Yeah, I would testify, absolutely,” Trump said at Mar-a-Lago. “This is a hoax. It’s a swindle; that’s not a trial.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders has always been a political outsider, but the longest-serving independent in US congressional history is now not afraid to exhibit his pragmatic side.
In an exclusive interview with USA TODAY on Wednesday, the senior senator from Vermont discussed the Israel-Hamas conflict, antisemitism, student protests, and President Biden’s record. One common thread that emerged immediately was Sanders’ refusal to let his disagreements with Biden on some subjects distract him from facing something more pressing: the threat posed by former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.
He believes Biden’s policy change on Israel is long overdue, but he is also concerned that young people are underestimating the true threat that Trump poses and, in their rage over Israel and other issues, may fail to recognize that Biden is better on their side, even if he is not where they want him to be on Israel.
“We can be extremely upset at the Biden administration for their policies toward Israel and Gaza, but the difficulty is that in the real world that you live in, you have to look at a whole lot of things,” he said, sitting in the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee hearing room on Capitol Hill. “On the other hand, I would hope that most of the young people and protestors do not want to see Donald Trump, who is a racist, a sexist, and a homophobe who doesn’t acknowledge the reality of climate change, become elected president of the United States.”
The 82-year-old senator was popular with young people when he ran in 2020, but he eventually embraced Biden and became an effective surrogate. His remarks about young people and Trump come as the self-described Democratic socialist is becoming more active in messaging directly to Democrats, and polling shows Biden’s support dwindling among a key voting demographic that helped the incumbent president win the White House nearly four years ago. Sanders’ political career has been based on his commitment to challenge the powerful, particularly large businesses and lobbyists, for the betterment of the working class.
“I believe the president has much to be proud of in terms of his previous accomplishments. “I’m not sure if he gets credit for it,” he remarked.
