Trump Gag Order: New Developments in Criminal Trial

TFD – Get insights into the latest developments surrounding the gag order on Trump in the hush money payments criminal trial.

Donald Trump is prohibited from speaking about possible witnesses in the criminal trial linked to hush money payments that is set to start next month by a gag order imposed by a New York judge.

Additionally, Judge Juan Merchan declared that Trump was not permitted to make any remarks meant to influence the case concerning lawyers, court employees, or the relatives of prosecutors or lawyers. Additionally, Trump is not allowed to comment on any current or prospective juror.

Merchan claimed that the former president had a track record of making “threatening, inflammatory, denigrating” remarks about individuals involved in the legal system, including jurors.

The decision will bar Trump from disparaging Stormy Daniels, the star of adult films, or Michael Cohen, his former lawyer, who are both anticipated to testify in court.

The injunction does not stop Trump from discussing Merchan or prominent New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

The gag order was issued in anticipation of the first-ever criminal prosecution of a former president, during which Trump has assailed the district attorney’s case and individuals associated with it on multiple occasions. Just hours before Merchan issued his order, Trump attacked Merchan, his daughter, and one of Bragg’s prosecutors.

The uncontested record, which shows the defendant’s earlier out-of-court remarks, creates a substantial enough risk to the administration of justice. … no less stringent measures exist to avert such a risk,” Merchan wrote on Tuesday.

April 15 is when the jury selection for Trump’s historic criminal trial will take place. Merchan had originally scheduled a later start date due to a disagreement on the delayed production of documents. Regarding reimbursements to Cohen for hush money payments he made to Daniels prior to the 2016 election to prevent her from disclosing an alleged affair with Trump, Trump is accused with 34 counts of falsifying business documents. The former president has denied the affair and entered a not guilty plea.

The gag order was put in place last month at the request of the district attorney’s office and was supposed to last the whole trial.

Trump and his legal team have maintained that since he is the front-runner among Republicans for the presidency in 2024, there should be no restrictions on his speech.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung released a statement saying, “Judge Merchan’s unconstitutional Gag Order prevents President Trump—the front-runner for the presidency of the United States—from engaging in core political speech, which is entitled to the highest level of protection under the First Amendment.” “It is the fundamental right of American voters to hear the unfiltered speech of the front-runner for the nation’s highest office.”

Todd Blanche, Trump’s lawyer, remained silent.

Trump’s remarks, according to Merchan, have been “threatening, inflammatory, and denigrating.”

Similar gag orders have been imposed by judges in Trump’s other criminal and civil trials, including as the federal election subversion case in Washington, DC, and the civil fraud trial in New York. Judge Arthur Engoron’s gag order was broken by Trump twice in the autumn civil fraud case when he made remarks against the judge’s staff.

Merchan claimed that in determining whether to apply limits, he took into consideration Trump’s prior public remarks.

Merchan wrote, “These extrajudicial remarks went far beyond defending himself against ‘attacks’ by ‘public figures.'”

The judge wrote, “In fact, his statements were inflammatory, demeaning, and threatening, and they were directed at a variety of targets, including private individuals serving as grand jurors and local and federal officials, as well as courts and court employees, prosecutors, and staff assigned to the cases.”

Merchan stated that he believed it was necessary to go beyond an earlier ruling prohibiting the public broadcast of jurors’ names or other identifying information.

The judge stated, “Although the protective order pertaining to juror anonymity prohibits the distribution of specific personal information, it is insufficient to prevent extrajudicial speech that targets jurors and exposes them to an environment of intimidation.”

Merchan was present at Trump’s Monday press conference.

At the pre-trial hearing on Monday, which Trump attended, Merchan quickly denied the motion to impose fines on the district attorney’s office, rescheduling the trial for April 15.

Following that, Trump walked to his neighboring 40 Wall Street skyscraper and addressed reporters, criticizing Merchan and one of the prosecutors on Bragg’s team who had formerly worked for the Justice Department, for the case against him.

Trump persisted in his criticism of Colangelo on Truth Social Tuesday, slanderously asserting that the prosecutor was Attorney General Merrick Garland’s “right hand” and sent to the district attorney’s office to pursue Trump.

The gag order, which states that Trump is only permitted to speak on Bragg and the district attorney staff, may now be violated by Trump’s statements.

Citing Trump’s remarks, Merchan made it apparent in his order that he was paying attention.

Merchan wrote, “Notably, the Defendant singled out a prosecutor assigned to this case within hours of the court appearance on March 25, 2024, setting the trial date for April 15, 2024, calling him a ‘radical left from DOJ put into [ ] the District Attorney’s Office to run the trial against Trump and that was done by Biden and his thugs’ in a press conference.”

Merchan is “unpersuaded” that Trump hasn’t made as many remarks regarding the hush money case.

Merchan also mentioned Trump’s remarks regarding “the nature and impact of the statements made against this Court and a family member thereof,” in reference to his daughter’s work for Democratic political campaigns.

In a long attack on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump made reference to the political work that Merchan’s daughter had done. Trump requested Merchan’s recusal last year, partly due to his daughter’s involvement in politics. The magistrate said no.

The former president has mostly abstained from commenting on the parties in this case in contrast to his other cases, according to the court, who declared himself “unpersuaded” by the arguments made by Trump’s attorneys.

The nature and impact of the statements made against this Court and a family member, the District Attorney and an Assistant District Attorney, the witnesses in this case, the nature and impact of the extrajudicial statements made by the Defendant in the D.C. Circuit case (which led to the D.C. Circuit issuing an order restricting his speech), and the fact that the trial is about to begin, “even though this Court did not issue an order restricting Defendant’s speech at the inception of this case, choosing instead to issue an admonition,” Written by Merchan.

The judge stated that Trump’s claims in his cases had caused “increased security resources to investigate threats and protect the individuals and family members thereof, as well as fear on the part of the individual targeted.”

Such provocative extrajudicial remarks surely run the potential of obstructing this Court’s orderly operation, according to Merchan.

More information has been added to this story.