Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Monday asked the judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s hush money case to “clarify” his gag order against him.
Judge Juan Merchan’s Tuesday order bars Trump from making statements regarding witnesses, prosecutors other than the district attorney, court staff, their families and prospective jurors. Bragg asked Merchan to clear up whether the order applies to the judge’s daughter after Trump repeatedly posted about her and to threaten sanctions against the former president for violations, according to a court filing.
“To the extent that the original March 26 Order did not already prohibit this behavior, this Court can and should clarify or extend the Order to protect family members of the Court on the record described below, and should warn defendant that any future disregard of the Order will result in sanctions,” Bragg’s filing states.
“This Court should immediately make clear that defendant is prohibited from making or directing others to make public statements about family members of the Court, the District Attorney, and all other individuals mentioned in the Order,” it adds.
Trump’s trial will begin with jury selection on April 15, Merchan decided. The former president got indicted in April 2023 on 34 counts of allegedly falsifying business documents related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
After the Tuesday gag order, Trump “immediately responded by launching a barrage of attacks not only on this Court but also on a member of the Court’s family—including by posting a photo of the family member,” it adds, referencing the former president’s posts on Truth Social.
Civil rights attorney Leo Terrell on Wednesday criticized Merchan for the Tuesday gag order.
“That ruling is vague and ambiguous,” Terrell said. “Who is complaining … ? Where is the evidentiary hearing of the witnesses, the council members who are being threatened? They are limiting Trump’s right to articulate his viewpoint in the court of public opinion.”
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