Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), the day after he attended part of Donald Trump’s criminal hush-money trial in New York—later doubting jurors’ citizenship and complaining about how the indicted former president is enduring “mental anguish” in the “depressing” courtroom—admitted Tuesday that “one of the reasons” for his appearance and comments was “to overcome this gag order” imposed on Trump.
Tuberville was joined by Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), who criticized Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter—something that the gag order prohibits Trump himself from doing. He is also prohibited from directing others to speak about witnesses and the jury, among others. On Tuesday, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum made similar comments to Vance, and when asked later on CNN if Trump had told him to speak about Merchan’s daughter, he said he had not.
Tuberville did not return a request for comment to The Daily Beast by the time of publication as to whether Trump had asked him to appear in court and speak to reporters afterward. But what Tuberville did say on Newsmax about Trump was nevertheless revealing.
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“Hopefully we’ll have more and more senators and congressmen go up every day to represent him and be able to go out and overcome this gag order, and that’s one of the reasons we went—is to be able to speak our piece for President Trump,” the senator said on the Chris Salcedo Show.
Salcedo approved.
“Well that’s good. You know, if he can’t speak on the sham this trial is, they can’t put you under a gag order—not yet, the way things are going,” he said.
Earlier this month, Trump was fined $9,000 for nine violations of the gag order after it was determined that he intimidated jurors and witnesses. Merchan has since warned him that jail is a very real possibility if he keeps it up.
Tuberville’s televised comments about the trial aren’t the only ones that have sparked interest regarding any potential workarounds by Trump. Trump “legal spokesperson” Alina Habba said on Fox News last week, for instance, that Stormy Daniels was “not credible” as a witness.
