Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday posted and quickly deleted a complaint about an upcoming witness on Truth Social despite being under a gag order barring him from publicly attacking witnesses.
Trump, whose legal team has not received advance notice of upcoming witnesses from prosecutors after he violated the gag order, wrote Tuesday morning that he was just “told who the witness is today.”
“This is unprecedented, no time for lawyers to prepare,” Trump claimed, even though his team has long had the full witness list. “No Judge has ever run a trial in such a biased and partisan way.”
The post was deleted less than 30 minutes later.
Trump appears to have deleted this post complaining that his legal team didn’t have time to prepare for today’s witness. (I saw it on Truth Social a few minutes ago but it’s gone now.) pic.twitter.com/Z6MdZruY9G
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) May 7, 2024
Former U.S. Attorney Barb McQuade noted that there is "no legal requirement to provide notice in advance of the day’s witnesses."
"In fact, in federal court, there is even no requirement to share witness lists with opposing counsel. And in light of safety concerns here, there are strong reasons to protect witness identity," she added.
The post came a day after Judge Juan Merchan fined Trump $1,000 for his 10th gag order violation and warned that he could face jail if he breaches the order again.
Georgia State Law Prof. Anthony Michael Kreis said the post may not violate the gag order since it was "really directed at the process" rather than the witness.
"But the quick removal seems like the most public-facing evidence we have the Trump absolutely does not want to see the inside of a jail cell," he added.
Adult film star Stormy Daniels is expected to testify on Tuesday, her attorney Clark Brewster told The Associated Press. Trump’s alleged hush-money payments to Daniels are at the heart of the 34 felony charges against him. Trump is accused of illegally covering up the payment to prevent Daniels’ claim of a sexual encounter from coming out during his campaign. Trump has denied the allegations and the affair.
