A clear violation': Gagged Trump posts Fox lie about criminal case jury pool

[lennygoran]

I sure hope this will be on the agenda this morning in the trump case! Regards, Len

'A clear violation': Gagged Trump posts Fox lie about criminal case jury pool
MSNBC


In what MSNBC Legal Analyst Andrew Weissmann called a clear violation of his criminal case gag order, Donald Trump posted a claim by a Fox host about the jury pool in his New York criminal trial. MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell is joined by Weissmann and Adam Pollock, former Assistant Attorney General for New York State.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1Y2h9vWfKU

[Rach3]

IMHO, Trump should be held in contempt, and held in Rikers Island every night of the trial, released only during the day to attend trial, and during trial breaks be in custody of his lawyers and/or officers with no ability to post anything anywhere. Those like Watters should be investigated by a grand jury for tampering and interference and/or subject to immediate contempt sanctions if possible. Ridiculous for Trump to claim Judge's orders unclear whether or not he could post Trump tool Watters' comments. The only alternative is to let Trump and his mob continue while the rest of us hope jurors will have the courage to still do their jobs. One selected juror has already been scared off.But, why let Trump and his mob get away with this ; regardless of fact trial will be fair, Trump and his mob will disparage any guilty verdict anyway.The media should quit providing so much detail about the jurors lives, jobs,where live,etc. Ridiculous to describe accents,employment, residence area.

[Rach3]

From AxiosPm today:

"One of the first jurors seated in former President Trump's historic criminal trial was dismissed Thursday after expressing concerns about being publicly identified.

Why it matters: With the People of New York v. Trump set to be one of the most high-profile and politically charged cases in U.S. history, the conditions for keeping 18 jurors anonymous — and safe — could not be more challenging.

Driving the news: Court reporters have been live-blogging the profiles of prospective jurors all week, including broad physical descriptions, recent employment, where they get their news and where in Manhattan they live.

Juror No. 2, who was dismissed Thursday, said she was already facing questions from friends and family after basic details — including her work as an oncology nurse and residence on the Upper East Side — circulated online.

"[A]lthough they are intending to keep the jurors' identities anonymous, it may not be completely possible," Cornell Law professor Valerie Hans, a leading expert on the jury system, told Axios.

Even in a city of 8.4 million, intense public scrutiny and obsessive online sleuthing — enabled by social media platforms — have made it far easier to narrow down the jury pool than in past celebrity trials.

Zoom in: Trump's constant posting about the case, as well as targeted campaigns by his allies online and in conservative media, have raised significant security concerns.

Like other networks, Fox News' Jesse Watters aired a segment Tuesday that highlighted extensive details about Juror No. 2, including her neighborhood, occupation, marital and family status.

"They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury," Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social, quoting Watters.

Prosecutors cited the post as one of seven alleged violations of Trump's gag order on Thursday.

Between the lines: The simple fact of Trump's presence during jury selection has also had an impact on some jurors.

"One potential People v. Trump juror became so anxious after laying eyes on Trump this afternoon she started chewing on the corner of her jury service card," a pool report revealed on Wednesday.

The intrigue: Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the New York trial, directed reporters on Thursday not to publish physical descriptions of the jurors.

"There's a reason why this is an anonymous jury and why we've taken the measures that we have taken," he said after dismissing Juror No. 2. "It kind of defeats the purpose of that when so much information is put out there."


Merchan last month barred the public release of juror names, but his order allowed legal teams and the defendant to know their identities.

Some journalists have expressed concerns about Merchan's attempt to block certain reporting about the jurors, arguing that the public has a right to know what's going on inside the courtroom.

The big picture: The threat of political violence has become an increasingly common theme in the Trump era.

Judges in Trump-related legal cases have seen a dramatic increase in threats directed at them and members of their family, according to a Reuters analysis.

Officials from the Fulton County Sheriff's Office investigated online threats against the grand jurors who voted to indict Trump in the Georgia 2020 election case.

The bottom line: "Yeah, I'm worried about their safety," former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori told CNN earlier this week. "They shouldn't be outed this way. They're not supposed to be outed this way."

What a great Country.CNN outed them, too,btw.

[Ricordanza]

The intrigue: Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the New York trial, directed reporters on Thursday not to publish physical descriptions of the jurors.

"There's a reason why this is an anonymous jury and why we've taken the measures that we have taken," he said after dismissing Juror No. 2. "It kind of defeats the purpose of that when so much information is put out there."

The judge is right, but unfortunately, this won't change things. Some or most media outlets will continue to publish any information they glean from the proceedings, knowing that if they don't publish it, the competition will. The judge hasn't enforced the gag order against Trump, so I don't see him putting a reporter in jail for describing a juror's physical characteristics or other identifiable details.

[lennygoran]

IMHO, Trump should be held in contempt, and held in Rikers Island every night of the trial, released only during the day to attend trial, and during trial breaks be in custody of his lawyers and/or officers with no ability to post anything anywhere. Those like Watters should be investigated by a grand jury for tampering and interference and/or subject to immediate contempt sanctions if possible. Ridiculous for Trump to claim Judge's orders unclear whether or not he could post Trump tool Watters' comments. The only alternative is to let Trump and his mob continue while the rest of us hope jurors will have the courage to still do their jobs. One selected juror has already been scared off.But, why let Trump and his mob get away with this ; regardless of fact trial will be fair, Trump and his mob will disparage any guilty verdict anyway.The media should quit providing so much detail about the jurors lives, jobs,where live,etc. Ridiculous to describe accents,employment, residence area.

Steve agree with all you say-can't come soon enough-it looks like we'll learn more on Tuesday! Regards, Len