Prosecutors in hush-money case seek partial gag order on Trump ahead of his New York criminal trial
New York prosecutors are seeking a limited gag order barring former President Donald Trump from talking about witnesses and court staff members to "protect the integrity of this criminal proceeding" ahead of his trial next month on charges he falsified business records.
New York prosecutors are seeking a limited gag order barring former President Donald Trump from talking about witnesses and court staff members to "protect the integrity of this criminal proceeding" ahead of his trial next month on charges he falsified business records.
The "need for such protection is compelling," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said in a court filing Monday. Trump "has a long history of making public and inflammatory remarks about the participants in various judicial proceedings against him, including jurors, witnesses, lawyers, and court staff."
"Those remarks, as well as the inevitable reactions they incite from defendant’s followers and allies, pose a significant and imminent threat to the orderly administration of this criminal proceeding and a substantial likelihood of causing material prejudice," Bragg's office added.
Lawyers for Trump, meanwhile, filed a pretrial motion in which they asked the judge to bar testimony from three of the DA's key witnesses in the case — former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. The filing paints Cohen and Daniels as liars and says McDougal's testimony would be "unduly prejudicial."
Former President Donald Trump at a pretrial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court on Feb. 15.Steven Hirsch / Pool via Getty ImagesThe DA is seeking a "narrowly tailored order" barring Trump from "making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses" in the case; talking about prosecutors in the case besides Bragg, members of the court's staff and the DA's staff and their relatives, concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding; and talking about "any prospective juror" or juror in the case.
Rating: 5