A New York judge issued a gag order against former President Donald Trump, on Tuesday, aimed at preventing the presumptive Republican nominee from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, and jurors in his forthcoming Manhattan hush money trial.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg - a frequent target of the former president - requested that Justice Juan M. Merchan impose the order due to Trump's "longstanding history of attacking witnesses, investigators, prosecutors, judges, and others involved in legal proceedings against him."
"The consequences of those statements included not only fear on the part of the individual targeted, but also the assignment of increased security resources to investigate threats and protect the individuals and family members thereof," Merchan said.
Notably, the gag order does not extend to Bragg - Trump will still be allowed to criticize the prosecutor, who has received death threats in recent months, according to the New York Times.
The identities of the jurors will also remain concealed to the general public for the duration of the trial.
While Trump is currently facing four major criminal cases, it is possible that only the Manhattan trial, which is scheduled for next month, will be decided before November's presidential election. The trial will also be the first instance in American history of a former president facing criminal prosecution.
Bragg alleges that Trump helped falsify business records, in order to cover up payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claims that she had sex with the former president. Prosecutors say that Trump concealed his reimbursement of one-time ally Michael Cohen and committed 34 felonies in the process.
Trump's subsequent comments on Cohen could be seen as an example of the type of behavior that Merchan hopes to stymie by issuing the gag order. He has referred to his estranged right-hand-man as a "liar" and "rat." In one recent Truth Social post about the upcoming trial, Trump described Cohen as "death."
"D.A. Bragg, working in close coordination with Crooked Joe Biden's people/campaign, has no case against me," Trump posted on Tuesday morning.
"In fact, he was furious that they were pursuing such a ridiculous case, where there is no crime, all others in law enforcement had taken a pass, where reliance on a convicted LIAR and FELON, Michael Cohen, is necessary, and where a dirtbag lawyer named Mark Pomerantz did things that were really bad!"
