Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s New York hush-money criminal case have requested a gag order to be imposed on the former president ahead of the trial next month. They cite Trump’s history of making inflammatory remarks about people involved in his legal cases as the reason for the request. The Manhattan district attorney’s office is asking for a narrowly tailored gag order that would prevent Trump from making public statements about potential witnesses and jurors, as well as statements meant to interfere with or harass the court’s staff, prosecution team, or their families. Trump has a history of using social media, campaign speeches, and other public statements to attack individuals he considers adversaries.
The requested gag order would not prevent Trump from commenting about the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg. Jury selection in the case is set to begin on March 25, making it the first of Trump’s four criminal cases to go to trial. The judge overseeing the case, Juan Manuel Merchan, has not yet ruled on the prosecution’s request for a gag order. Trump’s lawyer, Susan Necheles, indicated that the defense will respond to the request in court papers later in the week. A spokesperson for Trump’s presidential campaign called the request “election interference” and a “sham orchestrated by partisan Democrats” to prevent Trump from returning to the White House.
In addition to the New York case, Trump is already subject to a gag order in his separate federal case in Washington, which charges him with scheming to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. This order was initially imposed by the judge overseeing the case in October and was largely upheld by a federal appeals panel two months later, although the court did narrow the speech restrictions to allow Trump to criticize the special counsel who brought the case. Trump was also under a limited gag order in his New York civil fraud trial and was fined $15,000 for violating it twice. This gag order was imposed by Judge Arthur Engoron after Trump made a disparaging social media post about the judge’s chief law clerk.
The request for a gag order in the New York hush-money case is part of a larger legal battle facing Trump as he navigates multiple criminal cases. The prosecution argues that Trump’s history of making inflammatory public statements about individuals involved in his legal cases warrants restrictions on his ability to comment on the proceedings. The defense is expected to respond to the request for a gag order in court papers later this week. The outcome of this request will be significant as it may impact Trump’s ability to defend himself and exercise his First Amendment rights during the trial scheduled for next month.
