Judge Issues Restraining Order Against Trump Camp, Roger Stone In Ohio Case

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016, in Springfield, Ohio. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)
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A federal judge presiding over a voter intimidation lawsuit that the Ohio Democratic Party brought against Republicans said in a hearing in the case Friday issued a restraining order against the Donald Trump campaign, former Trump adviser Roger Stone, and Stone’s group Stop the Steal.

U.S. District Judge James Gwin’s order blocks the Trump campaign and Stone “from conspiring to intimidate, threaten, harass, or coerce voters on Election Day.”

The judge did not issue a restraining order against the Ohio Republican Party, who the Democrats also sued in the complaint, as he said at the hearing on the case Friday that he did not see enough evidence against the Ohio GOP to merit it, according to Cleveland.com.

Rather than issue a “broad and indefinite injunctive order,” Gwin said, his injunction applied specifically to the types of voter intimidation that constitutes a violation of Ohio state code. He went on to list a number of such behaviors, including loitering by polling places, unauthorized monitoring within the 100 foot buffer zone around election sites, admonishing or harassing voters, and photographing or otherwise recording people coming into and out of the buffer zones.

The judge also said that “other individuals or groups, including groups associated with the Clinton for Presidency campaign” are blocked from engaging in those kinds of activities as well.

One civil rights lawyer present at Friday’s hearing recounted how the Trump campaign’s attorney struggled to explain the GOP nominee’s rhetoric warning of voter fraud.

The Ohio lawsuit is one of six complaints alleging voter intimidation tactics state Democratic parties filed against Republicans this week. A separate legal action against the Republican National Committee is also ongoing, with the Dems alleging violations of a longstanding consent decree limiting RNC involvement in so-called “ballot security” activities

Read the order below:

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Notable Replies

  1. Yes, I don’t care for how long, but as long as Stone, Trump, and Co. become felons and can’t ever vote again.

  2. Strange that he would make the order so generic. I don’t remember Democrats intimidating voters, suppressing votes, etc., or even threatening to.

  3. The list of people Trump will have to fire, deport, electrocute or throw in jail during his first hour in the Oval Office just keeps growing.

  4. If the judge isn’t Mexican, I’ll bet the judge enjoys Mexican food.

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