The NY judge presiding over one (bc there’s >1) of Trump’s #criminal trials imposed a gag order on Tues that prohibits him from attacking #witnesses, #prosecutors & #jurors, the latest effort to rein in Trump’s wrathful rhetoric.
Judge Juan #Merchan imposed the order at the request of the Manhattan DA, which brought the case. The DA, #AlvinBragg, has accused #Trump of covering up a sex scandal during & after his 2016 campaign [to keep it from the electorate].
…Under the judge’s #GagOrder, Trump cannot make, or direct others to make, statements about #witnesses concerning their roles in the case. Trump is also barred from commenting on prosecutors & court staff.
…in seeking the #GagOrder last month, #AlvinBragg’s prosecutors highlighted #Trump’s “longstanding history of attacking witnesses, investigators, prosecutors, judges, & others involved in #legal proceedings against him” — comments that the judge seized on in his ruling.
“His statements were threatening, inflammatory, denigrating,” Justice #Merchan wrote in the Tues order.
#Trump, for example, has taken aim at #MichaelCohen, his onetime fixer & one of #AlvinBragg’s main witnesses, calling him a “liar” & a “rat.” And in a rambling & angry post on his social media site on Tues, Trump made an ominous reference to Cohen, claiming w/o explanation that his former fixer was “death.” He also referred to one of Bragg’s prosecutors in pejorative [#racist] terms.
Both comments would now arguably violate the #GagOrder. In another post, #Trump took aim at Justice #Merchan & his family, claiming that the judge “hates me,” though those comments do not appear to cross the line the judge has now set.
The order, along w/ Justice Merchan’s recent order protecting the identities of potential #jurors in the case, reflects the … angry & chaotic atmosphere … around Trump’s trials.
From #Merchan’s #GagOrder:
[#Trump] “...went far beyond defending himself against ‘attacks’ by ‘public figures’. Indeed, his statements were threatening, inflammatory, denigrating, & the targets of his statements ranged from local & federal ofcls, court & court staff, prosecutors & staff assigned to the cases, & private individuals including grand jurors performing their civic duty....Such inflammatory extrajudicial statements undoubtedly risk impeding the orderly administration this Court."
…After #AlvinBragg filed the case last year, Justice #Merchan initially stopped short of adopting a #GagOrder, while instructing Trump to refrain from making statements “likely to incite #violence or civil unrest.” But since then, #Trump has continued to attack witnesses & prosecutors, prompting Bragg to seek a more formal order.
…In a separate order Tues, Justice #Merchan issued a stern warning to #Trump’s lawyers as well. He reminded them to behave professionally, or risk being held in #contempt.
“This Court emphasizes that it hopes for & fully expects zealous advocacy from counsel as well as spirited contribution from witnesses & parties alike,” Justice Merchan wrote. “Nonetheless, the Court expects that the line between zealous advocacy & willful disregard of its orders will not be crossed.”