The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is seeking a protective order in the unfolding criminal case against former President Donald Trump that would outline restrictions on the former president’s access to and usage of materials associated with the discovery process. “Discovery” refers to the period before trial in which both sides assemble relevant evidence via testimony and supporting materials, sometimes provided by opponents.
Bragg’s team is concerned about the possibility Trump discloses some of what’s made available in this case, pointing in a filing seeking the order to the relevant precedent of Trump’s suspected mishandling of classified documents from his time as president. Those circumstances have led to an ongoing criminal investigation at the federal Justice Department in which reports have indicated investigators have been zeroing in upon the former president himself. In New York, Bragg’s team wants Trump to be blocked from publicly disclosing evidence they make available during discovery and to be restricted to viewing that evidence with his legal team present. Assistant District Attorney Catherine McCaw in Bragg’s office also pointed to Trump’s history of seeking to weaponize the circumstances of various investigations against his adversaries.
“Donald J. Trump has a longstanding and perhaps singular history of attacking witnesses, investigators, prosecutors, trial jurors, grand jurors, judges, and others involved in legal proceedings against him, putting those individuals and their families at considerable safety risk,” McCaw said in a portion of the new filing highlighted by NBC. The restrictions Bragg’s team is seeking do not constitute a gag order and would not entirely block the president from speaking publicly about the criminal case, for which he is currently set to return to court much later this year. In the meantime, Trump is also on trial in federal court in New York City this week on civil claims of sexual assault filed by writer E. Jean Carroll. As that case is specifically civil in nature, financial penalties could be among the consequences for the former president should the jury rule for Carroll.
