Jonathan Turley, the well-known attorney who is also a frequent Fox News contributor, believes that the U.S. Supreme Court would be likely to strike down the gag order that has been imposed on former President Donald Trump.
Turley said as much during an appearance on the Fox News Channel's Fox News Sunday.
Turley, last week, also published an article in which he looked further into the gag order. The article can be found here.
Before we get to what Turley had to say, we'll quickly bring you up to speed on the situation.
This is all taking place in the so-called hush-money case that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) has brought against Trump.
The case is being overseen by Judge Juan M. Merchan - who has significant Democratic ties. And, it is Merchan who issued the gag order.
The Associate Press reported:
The gag order bars Trump from either making or directing other people to make public statements on his behalf about potential witnesses and jurors in the hush-money trial. It also prohibits any statements meant to interfere with or harass the court’s staff, prosecution team or their families.
Trump is still allowed to make statements about Merchan and Bragg. If Trump violates the gag order, however, he could either be fined or placed in jail.
Trump has already been testing the limits of the gag order by going after Merchan's daughter on social media. Here is one of Trump's statements:
Judge Juan Merchan is totally compromised, and should be removed from this TRUMP Non-Case immediately. His Daughter, Loren, is a Rabid Trump Hater, who has admitted to having conversations with her father about me, and yet he gagged me. She works for Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, and other Radical Leftists who Campaign on “Getting Trump,” and fundraise off the “Biden Indictments” - including this Witch Hunt, which her father “presides” over, a TOTAL Conflict - and attacking Biden’s Political Opponent through the Courts. Former D.A. Cy Vance refused to bring this case, as did all Federal Agencies, including “Elections.”
Turley, during his Fox News appearance, was asked whether Merchan's gag order would survive review by the U.S. Supreme Court. Turley suggested that it would not.
"I think SCOTUS would look harshly at this order as it's currently written," he said.
Turley continued, "If you want to try the leading presidential candidate right before the presidential election, you have to have some recognition that there's a political speech element here, which is paramount. And, I don't think the judge recognized that with this order."
Indeed, Trump's legal team attempted to make this argument in court, but Merchan was having none of it, and he proceeded to impose the gag order on Trump.
It is unclear, at the time of this writing, whether Trump is going to challenge the gag order.
