Former President Trump is facing charges in New York State for allegedly falsifying company records concerning the hush money he paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has asked for a limited gag order on Trump.
She said Trump has a history of targeting those he views as adversaries, according to prosecutors. This includes individuals linked to his previous civil and criminal cases. March 25 is when Trump’s hush money trial is set to begin.
In Trump’s federal election meddling case in Washington, D.C., a limited gag order is already in place; now, prosecutors in Manhattan are requesting a comparable order restricting certain statements by Trump.
Bragg’s head of security, NYPD Sgt. Nicholas Pistilli noted an uptick in threats against the district attorney, his family, or office personnel in 2023. This is part of the application for a limited gag order on Trump’s public pronouncements.
The lawsuit states that in March 2023 alone, the police received approximately 600 calls and emails of harassment.
Also requesting permission to play the now-infamous 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape was the Manhattan district attorney’s office. The recording, according to the prosecution, is “highly relevant” to the question of why Trump paid Daniels to bury the rumors of her affair, which he has denied for years. Execution of the Stormy Daniels payoff a few weeks later is thus clearly tied to the emergence of the tape and the worries about its possible influence on the election.
In their papers, Trump’s legal team fought against the inclusion of the “Access Hollywood” tape and other demands for defense. They said the tape’s playing would be “inflammatory,” that jurors would get little useful information from it, and that it has no place at this trial about documents and accounting practices.
In the hush money case, Trump has pled not guilty to 34 counts and has blasted Bragg, Judge Juan Merchan, and witnesses like Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime personal attorney and fixer. As part of the judge’s order barring the former president from discussing court employees, the judge in Trump’s civil fraud trial also placed a limited gag order on Trump.
