Ex-Trump Attorney Tells CNN New Trump Rant To Local News ‘A Direct Violation’ Of Gag Order

Former Trump attorney Tim Parlatore told CNN’s Kate Bolduan that former President Donald Trump’s rant about key trial witness Michael Cohen in a local news interview is a “direct violation” of the gag order and a problem for Trump’s legal team.

Trump attacked Cohen in an interview with Walter Perez of Philadelphia’s WPVI 6ABC that was taped just before Judge Juan Merchan held a hearing on Trump’s gag order violations but aired Tuesday night.

Parlatore — who remains a frequent defender of Trump — was a guest on Wednesday’s edition of CNN News Central, during which Bolduan asked him about Trump’s latest rant:

DONALD TRUMP: Well, Michael Cohen is a convicted liar and he’s got no credibility whatsoever. He was a lawyer and you rely on your lawyers.

But Michael Cohen was a convicted liar. He was a lawyer for many people, not just me. And he got in trouble because of things outside of what he did for me, largely…

KATE BOLDUAN: How big of a problem is this one going to be for Trump and also his legal team now?

TIM PARLATORE: I mean, I think that this, this interview to me does seem to be a direct violation of the order as it is written. And so I think it’s is problematic for them, especially the, this airs, you know, while the judge is, you know, currently sitting and trying to decide the issue.

So the fact that it happened before the hearing, I think helps, you know, at least a little bit. I mean, if he had done that interview live last night after the hearing, then I think the judge would have no choice.

KATE BOLDUAN: Yeah. You know, I’m. I am not an attorney. I don’t pretend to be. But the reaction from the judge to Trump’s attorney during this gag order hearing seems to be something that you do want to avoid when you are in court. I mean, Todd Blanche telling the judge, President Trump is being very careful to comply with your order in terms of the gag order. You see it on your screen there and the judge responding at one point, “You’re losing all credibility with the court.”.

What do you think could happen now? I mean, how does it add it all together? How does Todd Blanche now, explain, explain this PVI interview to the judge if and when asked. And what do you think happens now?

TIM PARLATORE: You know, the judge also made a comment a little bit later where he said, I would like to hear that from your client. And I think what the judge is trying to , you know, figure out and trying to draw Blanche into is, is this how the lawyer explained it to Trump?

And obviously, that’s problematic to get into privileged conversations. But, you know, Todd is kind of, you know, toeing the line of saying, you know, this is, you know, what he has done is not a violation of the order. And the judge is trying to figure out well did his lawyer tell him that?

Because if he’s, you know, complying with, you know, his lawyer’s interpretation, then, you know, maybe the wrong person is, is my target. And so, you know, is Todd Blanche trying to take fire away from his client? I don’t know, but it is definitely a situation that, you know, I wouldn’t want to be in.

I mean, I look at this and I think the only really legitimate defense, you know, as I see it, to this is to, you know, something that won’t work with this judges to attack the breadth of the order itself. And I think that there is an argument to be made there, but it’s not going to work until you get up on appeal

Watch above via CNN News Central.

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