Trump issued gag order in trial over payments to Stormy Daniels after “threatening, inflammatory and abusive” statements

(CNN) — A New York judge has imposed a gag order on Donald Trump, restricting the former president from making statements about potential witnesses in a criminal trial related to hush money payments set to begin next month.

Judge Juan Murchan also indicated that Trump could not make statements about attorneys, court staff or relatives of prosecutors or attorneys intending to interfere in the case. Trump is also prohibited from making statements about any prospective or actual judges.

The former president, Murchan wrote, has a history of making “threatening, inflammatory and abusive” statements against people at all levels of the judicial system, including juries.

The ruling will prevent Trump from criticizing his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, or adult film star Stormy Daniels, both of whom are expected to testify in the trial.

The order does not prevent Trump from talking about New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is a public figure, or Merchan himself.

The gag order comes in the framework of Trump’s repeated attacks on the district attorney’s case and those involved, ahead of what would be the former president’s first criminal trial. Trump criticized Merchan, his daughter and one of Bragg’s prosecutors before Merchan issued the order.

“An undisputed record reflecting defendant’s prior extrajudicial statements establishes a substantial risk to the administration of justice (…) and no less restrictive means to avoid such risk,” Murchan wrote Tuesday.

Trump’s historic criminal trial will begin with jury selection on April 15, after Murch initially pushed back the start date after a dispute over delays in filing documents.

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records stemming from compensation for paying Cohen hush money to prevent Daniels from going public about an alleged affair with Trump before the 2016 election. The former president has exonerated himself and denied the affair.

The prosecutor’s office requested last month that the gag order remain in effect throughout the trial.
Trump and his lawyers have argued that, as the Republican presidential front-runner, Trump’s speech should not be banned as he appeals to voters in the 2024 election.

“Judge Merchan’s unconstitutional gag order prevents President Trump — the leading candidate for the presidency of the United States — from engaging in central political speech, which is entitled to the highest level of protection under the First Amendment,” the spokesperson said. Trump campaign Steven Cheng said in a statement.

“American voters have a fundamental right to hear the uncensored voice of the leading candidate for the highest office in the land.”

Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanch, declined to comment.

Murchan said Trump’s statements were ‘threatening, inflammatory and insulting’.

Judges have issued similar gag orders in other Trump criminal and civil cases, including a civil fraud trial in New York and a federal election subversion case in Washington, DC. In a civil fraud case last fall, Trump was fined twice for violating Judge Arthur Angoron’s gag order and for making comments about the judge’s staff.

Murchan said he reviewed Trump’s public statements in his other cases as he decided whether to impose sanctions.

“These extrajudicial statements go far beyond ‘public figures’ defending themselves against ‘attacks,'” Murchan wrote.

“In fact, his statements were threatening, inflammatory, abusive, and the recipients of his statements included local and federal officials, courts and court personnel, prosecutors and caseworkers, and individuals, in which he was fulfilling his civic duty,” the judge wrote. .

Merchan said he felt he had to go beyond a previous order that the names and identities of judges could not be made public.

“While a protective order related to juror anonymity prevents the dissemination of certain personal information, it is not sufficient to prevent extrajudicial speech directed at jurors and exposing them to an atmosphere of intimidation,” the judge wrote.

Marchan attended Trump’s press conference on Monday

Trump attended Monday’s pre-trial hearing, where Murchan quickly rejected a motion seeking sanctions against the district attorney’s office, setting an April 15 trial date.

Trump then headed to his nearby 40 Wall Street building, speaking to reporters to attack the case against him, one of Merchan and Bragg’s staff prosecutors who previously worked for the Justice Department, Matthew Colangelo.

On Tuesday’s Truth Social, Trump continued to attack Colangelo, making the baseless claim that the prosecutor was sent to the district attorney’s office to go after Trump as Attorney General Merrick Garland’s “right-hand man.”

Trump’s statements may now conflict with the gag order, which says Trump himself cannot comment on any member of the prosecutor’s staff other than Bragg.

Merchan made it clear in his order that he was paying attention, citing Trump’s comments.

“Specifically, within hours of his March 25, 2024 court appearance, in which the trial date was set for April 15, 2024, the defendant pointed to the individual prosecutor assigned to the case, referring to him as a ‘DOJ radical leftist.’ “The press conference was put in the (…) District Attorney’s office to lead the Trump trial by Biden and his thugs,” Murchan wrote.

Merchan can’t believe Trump hasn’t made as many comments about the case

Murchan also noted Trump’s criticism of his daughter, who has worked for a Democratic political campaign, citing “the nature and impact of statements made against this court and against a member of her family.”

Trump addressed Marchan’s daughter’s political work in a lengthy jab at Truth Social on Tuesday. Last year, Trump asked Merchan to recuse himself in part because of his daughter’s political work. The judge refused to do so.

The judge said he was “unpersuaded” by arguments from Trump’s lawyers that the former president had largely avoided commenting on the parties in this case compared to his other cases.

“Although this court did not issue an order restraining the defendant’s speech at the outset of this case, given the nature and effect of the statements made against this court and his family member, the district prosecutor and his family member, the assistant district attorney, The witnesses in this case, as well as the nature and effect of the extrajudicial statements made by the defendant in the Washington Circuit case (which resulted in the Washington Circuit issuing an order restraining his speech), and given that the eve of judgment is upon us, there can be no doubt that harm is imminent. Risk is now paramount,” Murchan wrote.

The judge noted that Trump’s statements in their cases “instilled not only fear on the part of the targeted individual, but also the allocation of security resources to investigate threats and protect individuals and their families.”

“Such inflammatory extrajudicial statements certainly impede the orderly administration of this court,” Murchan wrote.

— CNN’s Alayna Treen contributed to this report.