Donald Trump is facing his first real test when it comes to following the protective order Judge Merchan put in place just this past Tuesday. It specifically prohibits Trump from discussing publicly any details regarding evidence in his case. And this evidence is A DOOZY and was not provided until AFTER the protective order was put in place.
Here is the deal. CBS News is reporting that prosecutors have "released to [Trump's] attorneys a recording of Trump and a witness, whose identity was not disclosed, according to a document the office made public Friday."
Trump is facing 34 felony counts of falsification of business records for alleged payments made as part of a "hush money" scheme. The record falsification happened between Feb. 14, 2017 and Dec. 5, 2017.
The recording is new. A prosecutor from DA Alvin Bragg's office indicated "they have disclosed to the defense a "recording of a conversation between defendant and a witness.' " The prosecutors ALSO indicate that they "intend to disclose recordings of calls between witnesses and others."
The automatic discovery form was completed on Tuesday, the exact day Trump appeared at a hearing specifically scheduled to inform Trump is the protective order put in place. This recording is the EXACT kind of evidence the DA - and the judge - would want to protect. Both the identity and the nature of the recording, especially if it involves witness tampering or if the witness recorded Trump and then turned the recording over the prosecutors without Trump knowing. That is the exact kind of thing Trump would want to BLAST all over (not) Truth Social, calling the person a "rat" or "disloyal" or some other mobster name.
If Trump violates the order, he can be sanctioned or fined.
