Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is seeking a new gag order on former President Donald Trump ahead of his criminal trial late next month on allegations of falsifying business records in connection to hush money given to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 elections.
The order, if imposed, would mirror similar steps in two other cases implicating Trump: an active criminal case over his post-2020 election attempts at staying in power and the fraud case from New York state Attorney General Letitia James, amid which hundreds of millions of dollars in financial penalties were recently imposed on the ex-president. As recounted by ABC News, the restrictions on Trump sought by Bragg would apply to potential public statements about witnesses, court staff, and others.
Trump’s team in the case just recently appeared before presiding Judge Juan Merchan, arguing unsuccessfully for putting things on ice in consideration of Trump’s ongoing campaign for president, which he announced only after the underlying investigation was publicly known. Merchan scheduled jury selection in this case to start late next month. The rigors of the jury selection process will allow the exclusion of prospective jurors firmly biased against Trump, but he probably didn’t make his near future any easier with the relentless maligning of New York City from both Trump and allies of his.
Trump’s rhetoric is consistently the subject of concerns about potential violence. Amid the fraud case from James, he even publicly shared details of a social media account allegedly belonging to a member of the judge’s staff, teeing up potential problems. And Trump continues facing accusations of essentially direct responsibility for — or at least involvement in — the Capitol attack of early 2021 driven by lies tracing to him of a stolen election. Trump continues referring to detainees with criminal allegations originating in that attack as “hostages,” alleging political mistreatment of the defendants.
