Minutes after Fox News was called out on MSNBC, the embattled host of The Tucker Carlson Show announced that he would be going on a "long-planned" vacation.
"We're out of time -- gonna spend the next four days trout-fishing. Long-planned," Carlson claimed. "This is one of those years where if you don’t get it in now, you’re probably not going to."
CNN senior media reporter Oliver Darcy thought it was quite the coincidence how Fox News hosts always go on vacation during major scandals.
"Really remarkable how all these Fox News hosts coincidentally always seem to have pre-planned vacations RIGHT when they ignite controversy!" Darcy tweeted.
Sending hosts who get in PR trouble on vacation is a classic Fox PR tactic, Carlson had one after calling white sup… https://t.co/oJglgfmDFF
Former President Donald Trump claims his a gag order forcing him to stay mum on various individuals surrounding his historic criminal hush money trial is unprecedented.
In a Truth Social post, Trump moaned about the gag order that Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan imposed and then strengthened barring him from criticizing witnesses, jurors, court staff, and the families of the prosecutor and judge.
"The Gag Order imposed on me, a political candidate running for the highest office in the land, is totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL," Trump wrote. "Nothing like this has ever happened before."
"The Conflicted Judge’s friends and party members can say whatever they want about me, but I am not allowed to respond. The Trial is Rigged and should never have been allowed to take place on a charge that virtually every legal scholar and expert say is bogus, THERE IS NO CRIME. This is a Political Witch Hunt - ELECTION INTERFERENCE!"
She suggested that the gag order is drawn up almost identically to a federal gag order imposed on him in the Jan. 6 election subversion case, an order that was backed in December by the D.C. Court of Appeals.
Agnifilo stated that Merchan's gag order "mirrors" that.
"So for him to say it's never been done, it's unconstitutional — that's actually false," said Agnifilo. "It's actually the law of the land, according to the federal courts and so it absolutely is fine. It's constitutional. It's necessary."
She went on to show solidarity with Merchan for not letting the trial spiral into a circus.
"He's the judge has to keep control of his courtroom," said Agnifilo. "He has to make sure that witnesses aren't intimidated, and in particular, the jurors, and I think what's really concerning, is that he comments on the jurors — and it's very difficult to get people, just average people to serve on jury duty if they have to worry about something like that."
A ruling is expected by Merchan on whether Trump violated the gag order after a contempt hearing cited 10 posts on his social media account and campaign website serving as proof for prosecutors to show a “deliberate flouting” of the court’s prohibition.
Former President Donald Trump's Manhattan hush money trial is being viewed in a totally different way abroad, German Der Spiegel reporter Marc Pitzke told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on Wednesday.
This comes as Trump is set to receive a ruling on whether he violated the gag order in the case, which charges him with business fraud in connection with his cover up payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
When it comes to Germany's relationship with the U.S., Pitzke said, "It's always this back and forth. And when Trump came into office, it sort of crystallized that. And it also — this balance got totally out of whack. He brought up the ugly — you talk about this on this show all the time. And it's, you know, it's really people after 2020, people said okay, we need a break. It's like you're in a dysfunctional relationship. You can't stop. You don't know how to get out, but you suffer. And it was the same way with Germany. We've been tied to you guys since World War II. You liberated us, but we resent you for it. There are all these different layers. And then Trump comes in. He personifies everything for us. So it's been — We're all tired."
"Tell me what, for you, has jumped out?" asked Wallace. "Because as you said, we've been living with this for so long now. What, in terms of what you heard so far, surprised you?"
"Nothing really surprises me anymore about him," said Pitzke. "I was there when he came down that escalator. So every time there is like boiling frogs. Every time there is another thing happening, oh, okay, okay. What really surprises me now how the prosecution, how they put everything together. Like the opening statements were very tight, very short, but it was a narrative that you could follow. And for the first time we've talked about this for months. And since the arraignment, since the indictment a year ago, now we can really see this coming to life through people."
"Like, nobody knows David Pecker in Germany," he added. "But if you tell our readers that this is the guy who knows the secrets, this is the guy with the vault, the safe, then they — it's just amazing the depth of the alleged depravity behind all this. Like listening to David Pecker talk about this. We knew about 'catch and kill' and how it worked. We read Ronan Farrow and all that. But to really see how these stories were launched by Michael Cohen and by Trump, it's shocking. Nothing like this could ever happen in Germany, I hope. This guy would be in jail already in Germany."
Judge Juan Merchan should get a move on and quickly rule on whether Trump was in contempt of court for violating a gag order in the Manhattan hush money trial, former federal prosecutor Elie Honig told CNN's Jake Tapper on Wednesday — because it's clear that Trump is in fact in violation.
The former president is forbidden, under the gag order, from attacking expected witnesses in the case, which charges him with business fraud associated with buying the silence of adult film star Stormy Daniels — but he has repeatedly shared content on his social media platforms attacking his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who is planned to testify in the case. Trump's defense counsel attempted to defend this in a hearing earlier this week, but Merchan appeared deeply skeptical.
"We're still waiting on Judge Merchan to issue his ruling on whether or not Trump violated the gag order," said Tapper. "How long could this be left unresolved?"
"Well, it's up to him, but he's got to move fast," said Honig. "I mean, how much more evidence could he need than this? As the order is pending, Donald Trump is going out and reviolating and reviolating."
"You think he did it?" Tapper followed up. "All ten of those?"
"Yes," said Honig. "I think the judge the judge has tended to split the baby, as we say, he may peel off a couple of them and say, this one's a little bit ambiguous. The judge is going to find that he violated the vast majority of those 10, or I think it's 11 now, and maybe more pending. If I had to guess, I would guess we'll get a ruling tomorrow early or before the court day."
