Donald Trump's own words were used against him by a prosecutor who was arguing in favor of the gag order imposed in the former president's hush money case.
According to CNN, prosecutor Chris Conroy cited a passage from one of the Republican's books while requesting that Judge Juan Merchan did not modify the order.
Merchan, the judge in the high-profile case, imposed a gag order on Trump in March, which prohibits the Republican from making public comments about prosecutors, witnesses or jurors in the case, or their families, in the case, which will determine whether Trump falsified business records over payments to former adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair secret before the 2016 election, as alleged in a criminal indictment. Trump has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges against him in the case.
The gag order was expanded in April to include prohibitions on Trump making statements about Merchan's family and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Daniels took to the stand for the second time on Thursday where she completed her testimony after roughly two-and-a-half hours of questioning which followed several hours on Tuesday.
On Thursday, the defense requested that Merchan modify the order to respond to Daniels' testimony, arguing that it limited his ability to respond in the courtroom.
In court, Conroy argued that witnesses expressed fears about their safety and that modifying the gag order would put future witnesses at risk. He then cited Trump's own words from his book to argue that Trump believes in intimidating his enemies.
The passage read: "When you are wronged, go after those people because it is a good feeling and because other people will see you doing it. Getting even is not always a personal thing. It's just part of doing business."
Merchan eventually denied the defense's request. He said: "My concern is not just with protecting Ms. Daniels or a witness who has already testified. My concern is with protecting the integrity of these proceedings as a whole."
Newsweek contacted a representative for Trump by email to comment on this story.
Meanwhile, the judge fined Trump $1,000 for his 10th gag order violation on Monday and warned him that any future violations could land him in prison. Merchan also fined Trump $9,000 for his previous nine violations of the order.
The trial continues on Friday. It is expected to last for around six weeks.
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Kate Plummer is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. politics and national affairs, and ... Read more
