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Fox News host Howard Kurtz reminded Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt that her boss could still talk about his hush-money case even though a judge put a limited gag order in place.

While speaking to Leavitt on Sunday, Kurtz noted that former President Donald Trump had said he was willing to go to jail after Judge Juan Merchan prevented him from talking about court staff or the judge's family.

"If this partisan hack wants me to put, wants to put me in the clink for speaking the open, obvious truth, I will gladly become a modern-day Nelson Mandela," Trump wrote about the gag order, Kurtz reported.

"So why is he comparing himself to Mandela?" the Fox News host asked. "And is he now worried about going to jail in this case?"

"No, not at all," Leavitt insisted. "Truth will ultimately prevail in this case and in all of the cases. The Democrats want President Trump confined to a courtroom."

"Unfortunately, he'll have to be on trial in a dark, dirty New York City courtroom because Alvin Bragg is a far-left district attorney who has spent more time persecuting President Trump than prosecuting real violent criminals on the streets of New York," she continued. "President Trump is exposing the truth in all of these Biden-led witch hunts."

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Leavitt attributed the gag orders to Democrats who want to "silence" Trump.

"And that's exactly why you see these gag orders coming down," she opined. "Not only are they prosecuting him, but they want to silence him."

"It's a complete violation of his First Amendment rights."

Kurtz ended the interview with a correction.

"He can still talk about the case," the Fox News host said. "But I'm glad to have your response on that."

Watch the video below from Fox News.

Judge Aileen Cannon appears to "resent" having to take steps to protect witnesses against former President Donald Trump from threats in his Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance told MSNBC's Joy Reid on Tuesday.

This comes after Cannon, a South Florida judge appointed by Trump himself, agreed to protect the names of certain government witnesses against Trump — after special counsel Jack Smith demanding protection for several witnesses he warned would be vulnerable.

"Aileen Cannon seems to be trying to protect herself from getting this case taken from her by the 11th Circuit," said Reid. "She's ruled for Jack Smith, his request to redact the names of some two dozen government witnesses that Trump wanted to reveal in public versions of one of his big filings. It seems to be a very big deal, but it also seems to be self-protective on her part."

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"You know, every time we find an issue where Judge Cannon rules for Jack Smith, I feel like putting it in air quotes, because here, even though she rules for him, she does it after really criticizing him for behavior that's just not objectionable by a prosecutor," said Vance. "She seems to have the view that he was dilatory in filing and did it in an irresponsible fashion. The reality is that Smith will still have to justify all of these redactions of the names of witnesses from public view."

The idea that a judge would find this a burden is astonishing, she continued.

"Look, every judge has an obligation to protect the integrity of their courtroom, to protect witnesses and jurors who are engaging in public service when they participate in the criminal justice system," Vance said. "It's just unthinkable that a judge would not be very careful with the safety and security of those people, and yet this judge almost seems to resent having to protect them, simply because it's the special prosecutor that's asking for that."

Watch the video below or at the link here.

Joyce Vance says Aileen Cannon "resents" protecting witnesses www.youtube.com

Special counsel Jack Smith is to blame for the ongoing delay in former President Donald Trump's federal election interference case, according to Washington Post columnist Jack Willick.

Willick laid into Smith for bringing a "flashier" charge he believes allowed Trump to cry presidential immunity and take that claim all the way to the Supreme Court.

"Smith — apparently fearful that the Supreme Court might recognize some presidential immunity for official acts — says that allegations of Trump’s 'private misconduct are more than sufficient to support the indictment,'" writes Willick.

"Then why insist in the first place on charging Trump for official conduct, inviting a Supreme Court showdown over the scope of immunity?"

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The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments on April 25.

Their ruling effectively puts on hold the Washington D.C. federal case, in which Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges linked to his actions between the November 2020 election and the U.S. Capitol riots on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump's argument — that commanders in chief must enjoy absolute immunity to effectively lead the nation — stands in stark opposition to Smith's contention that presidents must be bound by the law they have sworn to uphold.

But Willick argues Smith blundered, first in delaying to bring charges against Trump then opting to connect those charges to official acts.

"This holdup is on the Justice Department," Willick writes. "Biden’s Justice Department bet instead on a flashier but less strategic approach," he writes. "The resulting appellate delays were predictable."

Willick notes time is of the essence in Smith's case as Trump could conceivably kill it should he regain the White House in 2025.

"If Trump makes it to November without a Jan. 6 conviction," Willick concludes, "he’ll have Jack Smith to thank."

New York Attorney General Letitia James doubled down Tuesday on her demand that the judge in former President Donald Trump's $464 million civil fraud trial allow her to investigate him after his former CFO pleaded guilty to perjury, court records show.

The Attorney General's office Tuesday filed a quick reply to Trump and Allen Weisselberg's attorneys sharp rebuttal to her demand for leeway to investigate from Justice Arthur Engoron.

"It is clear that Defendants and their counsel are completely incapable of independently disclosing any impropriety," wrote Senior Enforcement Counsel Kevin Wallace. "Outside certification is the only means to get to the truth."

The filing, first reported by MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin, arrives one day before Weisselberg is expected to face sentencing to perjury counts linked to his testimony in Trump's civil fraud trial.

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"James has doubled down on her request that Judge Engoron investigate why documents that go to the heart of Allen Weisselberg's admitted perjury during the civil fraud trial were not turned over," Rubin explained. "[James is] insisting that any fraud on the court during a concluded trial is nonetheless within the court's power to investigate."

The former president's attorneys have pushed back against this demand, calling it "extraordinary and wholly improper."

Weisselberg pleaded guilty to lying under oath in the course of his testimony during the New York civil fraud trial against Trump.

During that trial, he claimed to have never seriously considered the square footage of Trump Tower, but Forbes turned up emails from years ago in which he was explicitly defending Trump's claims about the area of the property, directly undercutting his claims.

The fraud case centered on Trump's falsification of the value of his properties, for the purposes of manipulating his tax liability and the terms of loans he got from banks. Trump has always maintained he did nothing wrong, but Engoron found him liable for more than $450 million in the case.

Trump is currently appealing that decision, and was allowed by a higher court to have his bond reduced to $175 million while he appeals.

Former President Donald Trump's onetime White House adviser Peter Navarro could remain in a federal lockup during the Republican National Convention, prison records show.

The Federal Bureau of Prison official listing on Monday showed Navarro is set to be released on July 17, according to its online inmate tracker. The date, first reported by CBS correspondent Scott MacFarlane, is an initial record of when he's set for release and it could change.

The Republican Convention begins in Milwaukee on July 15.

The Bureau of Prisons record shows Navarro's inmate number at a low-security federal correctional facility in Miami is 04370-510.

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Navarro was sentenced to four months in prison after he refused to comply with a subpoena from the House Select Jan. 6 Committee. The former trade adviser claimed then-President Donald Trump invoked executive privilege to prevent him from testifying.

If Navarro is freed on the set date, he would miss most of the Republican convention, which begins on July 15. But he could attend the convention's final day on July 18.

Former President Donald Trump is facing mounting financial difficulties in his campaign — to the point where he is reportedly being forced to triage which states he can afford to hold rallies in.

According to a new CNN report, Trump was planning to hold a rally in Arizona last weekend, on the same day he rallied in Ohio to support his endorsed Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, but backed out at the last minute.

"On Wednesday, Biden was in Arizona to announce $8.5 billion going toward a new Intel chip processing plant outside of Phoenix, returning to a state he visited twice in the second half of last year," reported Edward Isaac-Dovere and Kristen Holmes.

"Trump had been looking at a trip to the state – which went for Biden by just 10,457 votes in 2020 – for last weekend, the same day as his Ohio rally. But those plans were scrapped after clinching the presidential nomination, with two sources citing a desire to save money and attend a more politically advantageous event in Ohio rallying for Moreno."

Moreno went on to easily win the GOP nomination in Ohio, beating state Sen. Matt Dolan and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose. He will face off against Sen. Sherrod Brown, the only remaining Democrat in a major statewide office.

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The Trump campaign is being significantly outraised by the Biden campaign and has faced other complications, including warnings from the Federal Election Commission to stop accepting illegal contributions, as Raw Story exclusively reported last month.

It comes at a moment when the former president has faced intense personal financial struggles, including a pair of legal judgments for $83.3 million and $464 million, respectively — the latter of which he is struggling to raise bond for and could lead to Trump Organization assets and properties being seized by the state of New York.