Former President Donald Trump appears at a preliminary hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court on February 15. [PHOTO: Getty Images]
- Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office seeks a partial gag order on Donald Trump to safeguard the integrity of his New York criminal trial.
- The move comes amid concerns about Trump’s history of making inflammatory remarks about participants in legal proceedings, prompting arguments over First Amendment rights and the protection of the judicial process.
In a significant legal development, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has filed a motion seeking a partial gag order on former President Donald Trump.
The request aims to prevent Trump from publicly discussing witnesses and court staff involved in his upcoming New York criminal trial. Bragg’s office argues that such measures are essential to protect the integrity of the legal proceedings.
“The need for such protection is compelling,” emphasized Bragg’s office in a court filing on Monday.
They pointed out Trump’s long history of making inflammatory remarks about individuals involved in judicial proceedings, including jurors, witnesses, lawyers, and court staff.
According to the filing, these remarks and the reactions they incite from Trump’s supporters pose a significant threat to the orderly administration of justice and could cause material prejudice to the case.
“It is necessary because Trump has a longstanding and perhaps singular history of using social media, speeches, rallies, and other public statements to attack individuals that he considers to be adversaries, including courts, judges, various law enforcement officials, and even individual jurors in other matters,” the filing added.
Reacting to the motion, Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump’s campaign, criticized the move as an infringement on Trump’s First Amendment rights.
He stated, “The DA was seeking a restrictive gag order, which if granted, would impose an unconstitutional infringement on President Trump’s First Amendment rights, including his ability to defend himself, and the rights of all Americans to hear from President Trump. This is election interference pure and simple.”
Judge Juan Merchan, overseeing the case, previously issued a protective order barring Trump from disclosing evidence obtained through the discovery process.
However, Merchan clarified that the directive was not a gag order and affirmed Trump’s freedom to campaign and defend himself within the bounds of the protective order.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg addresses the media following the indictment of former President Donald Trump in New York City on April 4. [PHOTO: Courtesy]
In response to the prosecutors’ arguments, Trump’s legal team contested the assertion that efforts to prevent adverse publicity during a campaign equate to fraud.
They labeled the prosecutors’ argument as a distortion of the law and an extraordinary perversion of the First Amendment and the integrity of the election system.
The filing also cited previous instances where Trump had made inflammatory remarks, including threats made to the judge and law clerk in a recently concluded civil fraud case, as well as numerous threats against Bragg and his office.
The document highlighted the urgency of implementing measures to address the significant threats posed by Trump’s public attacks on individuals involved in legal proceedings.