Donald Trump May Have Broken Gag Order Again Outside Court

Donald Trump has been accused once again of violating the gag order imposed on him in his hush money trial.

Legal experts and reporters suggested that Trump may have broken the gag order preventing the former president from speaking about witnesses after he mentioned his former lawyer Michael Cohen and Cohen’s one-time attorney Robert Costello during a speech outside the New York courtroom on Monday.

“You saw what happened to a highly respected lawyer today, Bob Costello. Wow,” Trump said while speaking to reporters after proceedings finished.

Trump also mentioned how Cohen admitted he “stole” $60,000 from the Trump Organization, before adding: “but now I can’t talk about it because, again, I have a gag order.”

The Context

Trump was placed under gag order by Judge Juan Merchan to prevent the former president from making public comments about court staff, jurors, potential witnesses and others during his falsifying business records case.

The gag order was put in place after the former president made multiple comments about the judge’s daughter on social media, including calling her a “Rabid Trump Hater.”

Trump was previously fined $9,000 after Merchan ruled the former president violated the gag order nine times in relation to Truth Social comments and re-posts, as well as statements on his campaign website. Merchan warned Trump that he risks being jailed if he is found to violate the gag order again.

What We Know

Trump is accused of violating the gag order two more times with comments he made on Monday outside the Manhattan courtroom.

Former FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann suggested that Trump’s remarks about Costello were another violation after the lawyer testified on Monday.

“More gag order violations. And if last is prologue, Trump will do this during summations/jury deliberations,” Weissmann posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Weissmann’s post was in reply to Washington Post political reporter Aaron Blake, who wrote: “Trump shortly ago: ‘You saw what happened to a highly respected lawyer today, Bob Costello. Wow.’ Costello is a witness. Trump’s gag order bars him from ‘making … public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses.'”

Costello, an ally of Trump, was reprimanded by Merchan on Monday for repeatedly expressing his frustrations at the proceedings while on the stand, including at one point saying “jeez” after the prosecution raised objections to his testimony.

Blake suggested Trump’s remarks about Cohen outside the courtroom “would seem more problematic” in relation to a potential gag order violation.

“Trump reads [lawyer and columnist] Andy McCarthy talking about how Cohen ‘stole from the Trump Organization.’ Unlike Costello, this isn’t praising a witness. And Merchan has been clear that repeating others’ words can violate the gag order,” Blake posted.

Trump’s legal team has been contacted for comment via email.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.