A judge in New York has ordered former president Donald Trump to remain silent on any witnesses who may testify in the upcoming criminal trial over hush money payments, which is set to start next month.
To further complicate matters, Judge Juan Merchan ruled that Trump cannot make statements regarding court personnel, attorneys, or relatives of prosecutors or lawyers in an effort to influence the case. Additionally, Trump cannot comment on any juror, whether they are currently serving or not.
According to Merchan, the ex-president has a track record of making remarks that are “threatening, inflammatory, denigrating” against individuals involved in the legal system, particularly those serving on juries.
The decision will bar Trump from criticising Stormy Daniels, an adult film star, or Michael Cohen, his former attorney, both of whom are anticipated to testify at the trial.
Despite the ruling, Trump is free to discuss Merchan or the prominent New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg as he sees fit.
In the lead-up to what would be the first ever criminal prosecution of a former president, Trump has harshly criticised the district attorney’s case and others associated with it, prompting the gag order. Just hours before Merchan gave his order, Trump blasted Merchan, his daughter, and one of Bragg’s prosecutors.
The defendant’s previous extrajudicial utterances are shown in the uncontested record, which creates a substantial risk to the administration of justice. “This risk cannot be mitigated through less stringent measures,” Merchan stated in a Tuesday email.
After a disagreement over the late delivery of documents forced Merchan to first postpone the commencement date, the jury selection for Trump’s historic criminal trial will take place on April 15. Reimbursements to Cohen for hush money payments made by Trump to Daniels before the 2016 election to prevent her from going public about an alleged affair with him are at the heart of the 34 counts of falsifying business documents. The ex-president has denied the affair and pleaded not guilty.
Just last month, the district attorney’s office asked that the gag order be kept in effect during the trial.
As the preeminent Republican presidential candidate in the 2024 election, Trump and his lawyers have contended that he should not be censored in his pleas to voters.
There has been “threatening, inflammatory, denigrating” rhetoric from Trump, according to Merchan.
The New York civil fraud trial and the federal election subversion case in Washington, DC, both involve Trump and have had gag orders enforced by the judges. Two fines were levied on Trump in the civil fraud case last autumn for his comments against Judge Arthur Engoron’s staff and for violating the gag order.
According to Merchan, when deciding whether or not to impose limits in his previous cases, he studied Trump’s public pronouncements.
Defending himself against ‘attacks’ by ‘public people,’ these extrajudicial utterances went beyond that, according to Merchan.
“Truly, his remarks were insulting, provocative, and defamatory, and he directed them towards a variety of audiences, including federal and state officials, court personnel, assigned prosecutors and case staff, as well as private citizens, including civically engaged grand jurors,” the judge noted.
A prior injunction prohibiting the public publication of juror names and identifying information was insufficient, according Judge Merchan, who felt compelled to take further action.
The judge said that although the protective injunction regarding juror confidentiality does stop some personal information from being shared, it isn’t enough to stop extrajudicial speech that targets jurors and puts them in a dangerous environment.
On Monday, Merchan observed Trump’s press conference.
During Monday’s pre-trial hearing, which Trump attended, Merchan quickly denied the district attorney’s office’s motion for sanctions and set the trial date for April 15.
Afterwards, Trump addressed reporters at his 40 Wall Street building, where he criticised the case against him, Merchan, and Matthew Colangelo, a former Justice Department official and prosecutor on Bragg’s team.
Trump persisted in his attacks on Colangelo on Truth Social Tuesday, making the unfounded accusation that the prosecutor was transferred to the district attorney’s office with the express purpose of targeting Trump in his capacity as the “right hand” of Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The gag order states that Trump is not to comment on the staff of any district attorney other than Bragg, so Trump’s comments may now violate this order.
Merchan demonstrated his attentiveness in his order by referencing Trump’s remarks.
Merchan noted that the Defendant attacked a prosecutor in a press conference, accusing him of being a “radical left” who was “put into the District Attorney’s Office to run the trial against Trump and that was done by Biden and his thugs,” just hours before the trial was set to begin on April 15, 2024, following the court appearance on March 25, 2024, which set the trial date for that day.
Trump has been mum on the hush money matter, and Merchan is “unpersuaded” of this.
Trump has criticised his daughter, who has worked for Democratic political campaigns, according to Merchan, who cited “the nature and impact of the statements made against this Court and a family member thereof.”
In his extended attack on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump made reference to the political efforts of Merchan’s daughter. Due in part to his daughter’s political involvement, Trump requested Merchan to step down last year. That was the judge’s decision.
In contrast to his previous cases, the judge stated he was “unpersuaded” by Trump’s legal team’s claims that the president had mostly avoided commenting on the parties involved in this one.
“The imminence of the risk of harm is now paramount,” the court stated, “despite the fact that this Court did not issue an order restricting Defendant’s speech at the inception of this case, choosing instead to issue an admonition. This is due to the nature and impact of the statements made against this Court and a family member thereof, the District Attorney and an Assistant District Attorney, the witnesses in this case, and the extrajudicial statements made by Defendant in the D.C. Circuit case, which led to an order restricting his speech.” An email from Merchan was sent.
“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,” the judge said, referring to the impact of Trump’s remarks in his statements.
“The orderly administration of this Court is undoubtedly jeopardised by such inflammatory extrajudicial statements,” Merchan wrote.
NY Judge Slams Trump: Issues Gag Order in Hush Money Trial…
