NY judge issues gag order on Trump in hush money trial

CNN
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A New York judge has issued a gag order against Donald Trump, restricting the former president from making statements about potential witnesses in a hush-money-related criminal trial set to begin next month.

Judge Juan Merchan also stated Trump cannot make statements about attorneys, court staff or prosecutors or family members of attorneys who seek to interfere with the case. Trump is also prohibited from making a statement about any potential or actual jurors.

Merchin wrote that the former president has a history of making “threatening, inflammatory, and defamatory” remarks against people at all levels of the judicial system, including jurors.

The ruling will prevent Trump from criticizing his former lawyer Michael Cohen or adult film star Stormy Daniels, both of whom are expected to be witnesses in the trial.

The order does not prevent Trump from talking about public figures such as New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg or Murchin himself.

The gag order comes as Trump repeatedly attacks the district attorney’s case and those involved ahead of the former president’s first criminal trial. Hours before Murchin issued his order, Trump criticized Murchin, his daughter and a prosecutor in Prague.

“The undisputed record reflects defendant’s prior extrajudicial statements that pose a sufficient risk to the administration of justice … and no more rigorous means exist to protect against that risk,” Merchian wrote Tuesday.

Jury selection in Trump’s historic criminal trial is set to begin on April 15, after controversy over late submissions of documents led Merchin to initially delay the start date. Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records stemming from hush money payments Cohen made to Daniels before the 2016 election to prevent her from going public about her affair with Trump. The former president has pleaded not guilty and denied the incident.

The district attorney’s office last month asked that the gag order remain in effect during the trial.

Trump and his lawyers argue that as the leading Republican presidential candidate, Trump’s speech should not be restricted as he appeals to voters in the 2024 election.

Judges in Trump’s other criminal and civil cases have issued similar gag orders, including a New York civil fraud trial and a federal election subversion case in Washington, D.C. In a civil fraud case last fall, Trump was fined twice for violating Judge Arthur Ngolon’s gag order and for making comments about the judge’s staff.

Merchan said he reviewed Trump’s public statements in other cases when deciding whether to impose restrictions.

“These extrajudicial remarks go far beyond defending oneself against ‘attacks’ by ‘public figures,'” Merchian wrote.

“Indeed, his comments were threatening, inflammatory, and defamatory, and he targeted local and federal officials, courts and court staff, prosecutors and case staff, and grand jurors, including those discharging their civic duty. individuals, including members of the public,” the judge wrote.

Merchian said he felt he had to go further than a previous order that jurors’ names and identities should not be made public.

“While protective orders related to juror anonymity may prevent the dissemination of certain personal information, they are insufficient to prevent extrajudicial remarks directed toward jurors and subjecting them to an atmosphere of intimidation,” the judge wrote.

Trump attended Monday’s preliminary hearing, where Merchin quickly rejected a motion seeking sanctions against the district attorney’s office and set a trial date for April 15.

Trump then went to the nearby 40 Wall Street building to address reporters and attack the case against him, Murchin and Matthew Colangelo, one of Bragg’s prosecutors who had worked at the Justice Department.

On Tuesday’s “Truth Society,” Trump continued his attacks on Colangelo, making baseless claims that the prosecutor was sent to the DA’s office to pursue Trump as Attorney General Merrick Garland’s “right-hand man.” general.

Trump’s comments may now conflict with a gag order that prohibits Trump from commenting on any district attorney staff other than Bragg himself.

Merchane made clear in his order that he was paying attention, citing Trump’s comments.

“Notably, within hours of appearing in court on March 25, 2024, which set a trial date of April 15, 2024, the defendant targeted a prosecutor assigned to the case, calling him ” The Radical Left in the Justice Department”. [ … ] The District Attorney’s Office put Trump on trial, which Biden and his thugs did at a press conference,” Merchian wrote.

Mercha also pointed to Trump’s criticism of his daughter, who has worked for Democratic political campaigns, and cited the “nature and impact of the statements made against this court and members of his family.”

Trump on Tuesday referenced the political work of silently investigating his daughter in a lengthy attack on the Truth Society. Last year, Trump asked Merchin to recuse himself, in part because of his daughter’s political work. The judge refused to do so.

The judge said he was “unpersuaded” by Trump’s lawyers’ arguments that the former president had largely refrained from commenting on the parties in this case compared with other cases.

“Although this court did not issue an order restraining defendant’s speech at the outset of the case, given the nature and impact of the speech directed at this court and members of his family, the district attorney and his assistant, it chose instead to issue a warning,” the district attorney, witnesses in this case, as well as the nature and impact of the extrajudicial statements made by defendant in the D.C. Circuit case (which resulted in the D.C. Circuit issuing an order restraining his speech), and given the looming consequences on the eve of trial, there is no doubt that the harm The risks are most pressing now,” Merchian wrote.

The judge noted that Trump’s comments in the case “not only caused the targeted individuals to fear, but also allocated increased security resources to investigate the threats and protect the individuals and their families.”

“Such inflammatory extralegal rhetoric undoubtedly has the potential to impede the orderly administration of the courts,” Merchian wrote.

This story has been updated with additional details.