NEW YORK – The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s upcoming hush money trial in Manhattan issued a limited gag order Tuesday barring the former president from discussing witnesses and other people involved in the case, a move that could curtail some of Trump’s public comments as he campaigns for president.
Trump’s history of “prior extrajudicial statements establishes a sufficient risk to the administration of justice,” wrote New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who ruled on Monday that the trial would begin with jury selection on April 15.
Trump is charged with falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment during the 2016 election, which prosecutors say was aimed at keeping information about an alleged affair from the voting public.
It is not the first limited gag order that has been imposed on Trump in recent criminal and civil litigation. Trump, who is known for making false and aggressive claims about those he disagrees with, was barred from speaking about a New York judge’s court staff during a lawsuit trial last year. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who is overseeing Trump’s criminal election interference case in Washington, has issued a gag order that protects witnesses and court staff.
Merchan’s order says Trump is not allowed to speak about prosecutors working on the hush money case under Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, or their family members, although he is permitted to target Bragg himself in social media posts or campaign speeches. Trump is also prohibited from speaking about members of Merchan’s staff and their families – though there does not appear to be any prohibition on speech about the judge or his relatives.
The decision was issued hours after Trump attacked Merchan’s daughter on social media because of her affiliation with a company that works on campaigns for Democratic candidates.
Merchan’s order also aims to protect jurors or prospective jurors, who will be summoned to the courthouse at the start of the trial. Trump is barred from “making or directing others to make public statements about any prospective juror or any juror in this criminal proceeding,” the order said.
(c) 2024, The Washington Post · Shayna Jacobs
