Judge To Decide If Trump's Niece Can Speak About New Book
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Today, a judge in New York is expected to decide if Mary Trump, the president's niece, will be allowed to talk about her tell-all book about Donald Trump. She has been gagged, thus far, from promoting it, though the book will be released tomorrow. Joining us now is CNN chief legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin. Jeffrey, great to see you.</s>JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR (via Cisco Webex): Good morning.</s>CAMEROTA: So, why can she publish the book but she can't talk about it?</s>TOOBIN: Because there -- well, she can -- because of this court order. But frankly, this court order is outrageous because there is a deeply-held principle in American law that there should be no prior restraints. You should not stop people from speaking, stop people from publishing under virtually any circumstances. Now, the problem that she faces, potentially, is if she violated her non-disclosure agreement -- and we don't know if she did -- she could have to pay damages, and that would be appropriate. But stopping her from speaking is something that's really counter to the First Amendment and how the courts work. So I anticipate that at this point, the judge will say well, she can speak but she may have to live with the consequences.</s>CAMEROTA: Speaking of being prevented from speaking, Michael Cohen, the president's longtime fixer and personal attorney, was ferried back to federal prison this weekend. Is it because he refused to sign a document saying that he would not publish a book or that he would not speak to the media?</s>TOOBIN: Well, that's certainly what his lawyers say. And, you know, when you go to prison you give up certain rights, obviously. When you are on parole you give up certain rights. Well, the question in the Cohen case is is he being singled out for special treatment for being -- is he being told that he can't speak because it may damage President Trump? That would be wrong. That would be counter to the First Amendment. If he's being treated like everyone else, then I don't think he'd a have a ground to complain. The question is is this restriction on his speech something that everyone gets or is it just to protect the president. That's something that's very important to know.</s>CAMEROTA: What's the answer?</s>TOOBIN: I don't know. I mean, I think we need to hear more from the Bureau of Prisons. We need to hear -- you know, just more facts. What are the requirements that are imposed on all citizens? I mean, this is an unusual situation because she -- he was released because of the virus. This wasn't like a normal parole release. So, I mean, it's an unusual situation but it's also an unusual restriction. I mean, remember, going -- Martin Luther King wrote "Letter from Birmingham Jail." A lot of people write things in prison that ultimately get published. And there's a real question here about whether Michael Cohen is being singled out because he's critical of the president. That's something that we need to know.</s>CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, as far as the reporting I've seen there's no standard probation form that includes language about not being able to speak to the press.</s>TOOBIN: And -- but if that's the case and if there is something that's being -- that is just designed to silence Michael Cohen, that would be inappropriate and probably unlawful. You know, the problem for Michael Cohen is that he has to litigate this from back in prison.</s>CAMEROTA: Yes.</s>TOOBIN: And, you know, that's a -- I mean, it's just a disastrous situation for him, needless to say.</s>CAMEROTA: And then if you look at the split-screen of Roger Stone -- whose sentence was commuted for seven felonies and he was commuted by the president, as you know, late on Friday -- and Michael Cohen going back to prison. At the moment, we're told he's in solitary confinement because of having to quarantine. And so, Roger Stone is free to say whatever he wants, it appears.</s>TOOBIN: Well, and not only that, while Roger Stone was out on bail he threatened the judge. He put out a social media post that had a -- like a bullet target by Judge Amy Berman Jackson. He almost had his bail revoked. So it wasn't like he was a model citizen out when he was -- when he was out on bail, and doing so publicly. So, I mean, the contrast between the two -- I mean, there's no allegation that Michael Cohen behaved inappropriately in prison. All he did, apparently, was write a book. But, you know, it's the whole story with how the president and the Justice Department have treated the president's enemies and how they've treated their friends. You know, Michael Flynn gets his conviction overturned, Roger Stone gets a commutation. You know, the whole Russia investigation is now under investigation, itself, by the Justice Department. But, Michael Cohen, who is an enemy of the president, gets locked up, apparently. And we'll see whether it's, appropriately, simply because he wrote a book.</s>CAMEROTA: OK. We'll also see what the judge decides about Mary Trump and what she can talk about.</s>TOOBIN: It's an important thing. I mean, you know, people don't realize how unusual prior restraints are and how inappropriate and wrong they are. The idea of telling someone you can't talk, you can publish a book is really counter to all of American First Amendment law.</s>CAMEROTA: Jeffrey Toobin, thank you very much.</s>TOOBIN: All right.</s>CAMEROTA: President Trump just retweeted a tweet that claims, without any proof, that the CDC is lying about the coronavirus. Why is the president doing this? Why is this his focus? We discuss with a former Republican lawmaker, next.