Judge issues gag order in Trump hush money trial

Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan on Tuesday ordered that former President Donald Trump be barred from making public statements about key individuals involved in the trial. The order came a day after Merchan scheduled Trump’s hush money trial to start on April 15.

What exactly does the order prevent him from saying? Trump can neither make public statements about individuals who are known or potential witnesses at trial nor order others to do so in his stead. He cannot publicly criticize prosecutors or their team members other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. He also cannot direct public comments to jurors or potential jurors.

Why is this happening? The order said the justice had initially refrained from putting in place a gag order at the start of the case but that it became necessary after several individuals, including “this court and a family member thereof,” had been the recipients of negative comments from Trump. Merchan said now that a trial was close, the risk of harm from further comments was “paramount.”

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about the decision regarding the start date of Trump’s hush money trial.