During the former president’s criminal trial in Manhattan, prosecutors requested that the judge maintain most of the gag order’s restrictions, but they later admitted that it was unnecessary to prohibit Trump’s comments regarding the witnesses who testified against him.
Two individuals engaged in the case had bomb threats sent to their residences on the initial day of the trial, according to prosecutors’ file that was made public on Friday. The document also revealed that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, his family, and the office’s employees had been the targets of “intensified” threats. This prosecution’s prosecutors characterized the threats as “directly connected to defendant’s dangerous rhetoric.”
Along with hundreds of threatening emails and phone calls, 56 “actionable” threats were recorded by officials during and after the trial, according to their writing.
For weeks, Trump has fought to have the gag order lifted, which prevents him from criticizing anyone associated with the case (including witnesses, court personnel, prosecutors other than Bragg, and Bragg’s and the judge’s families). Ten of his public remarks throughout the trial were determined to have violated the gag order, leading to his contempt proceedings on two occasions.
After being found guilty on 34 charges of manipulating company documents to conceal a hush money payment to a porn star in late May, Trump has been requesting Justice Juan Merchan to remove the gag order and has also attempted to have it overturned through the appellate courts. With the statement that “no substantial constitutional question is directly involved,” the highest court in New York rejected Trump’s appeal earlier this week.
The ex-president’s sentencing is set for July 11.
Since the trial is done, Trump has stated that the gag order should be lifted. In addition, he claims that he is unable to run for president due to the speech limitations.
“The concerns articulated by the government and the Court do not justify continued restrictions on the First Amendment rights of President Trump — who remains the leading candidate in the 2024 presidential election — and the American people,” wrote Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove in a letter to Merchan, now that the trial is over.
In their latest filing, prosecutors expressed their disagreement with the idea that the trial’s conclusion should be used to remove Trump’s speech limitations regarding jurors, court personnel, and their families. As part of their case to keep the gag order in place, prosecutors cited “attacks on jurors in other proceedings” as part of the defendant’s “single history of inflammatory and threatening public statements.”
Three other outstanding cases involve criminal allegations against Trump. A separate gag order is in place for him in one of those cases—the federal lawsuit that accuses him of plotting to undermine the 2020 election. The prosecution is also seeking an additional gag order in the case against him, which alleges that he possessed secret materials.
Based on Trump’s statements since his hush money conviction, Manhattan prosecutors stated that he “has not exempted the jurors from his alarming rhetoric that he would have ‘every right’ to seek retribution” against his trial witnesses.
The prosecution emphasized the importance of safeguarding the jurors in this case from potential harm caused by the defendant and his supporters.
However, they did rule that Trump could discuss trial witnesses, which could lead him to attack some of his favorite figures in the media, such as Stormy Daniels, the porn star he tried to silence, and Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer.
Even though Trump had already been critical of Cohen and Daniels before the gag order, he is now unable to mention them because they were key witnesses in his conviction due to their testimony against him.
Now, however, “the compelling interest in protecting the witnesses’ ability to testify without interference is no longer present,” the prosecution concluded.