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(Trends Wide) — Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office have asked the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal case to impose a protective order restricting the former president’s ability to release information about the investigation.
In a motion, prosecutors told the judge that Trump’s team would not consent to a protective order.
“The risk that this defendant will use the covered materials inappropriately is substantial. Defendant has a long history of discussing his legal issues publicly, including addressing witnesses, jurors, investigators, prosecutors, and judges with harassing, embarrassing, and threatening statements on social media and other public forums, and has already done so in this case.” , prosecutors wrote in the filing.
Manhattan prosecutors have charged Trump with falsifying business records with the intent to conceal illegal conduct related to his 2016 presidential campaign. The criminal charges stem from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into the alleged payments. hush money secrets, made during the 2016 campaign, to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump, something he denies. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
In seeking the protective order, prosecutors cited some of Trump’s previous attacks on witnesses who came forward to testify against him, including his former personal attorney Michael Cohen and Alexander Vindman, a former national security official who testified publicly during the first impeachment trial. of Trump.
The officials asked the judge to order that Trump can only see certain material turned over by prosecutors in the presence of his defense attorney and not allow him to copy material designated as “limited release material.”
Specifically, they asked the judge to instruct anyone who receives materials, including grand jury testimony, not to post them on any news organizations or social media websites without the judge’s approval. They also asked the judge to limit the use of any materials provided to Trump to defend this case.
“To begin with, it is important to note that the prosecution is not currently seeking a gag order in this case. The defendant has a constitutional right to speak publicly about this case, and the prosecution does not seek to infringe that right,” the prosecutors wrote.
Former President Donald Trump appears in court with members of his legal team for an arraignment on charges stemming from his indictment by a Manhattan grand jury in New York City on April 4, 2023. (Credit: Curtis Means/Pool/Reuters)
Prosecutors also asked the judge to limit review of images of two cellphones linked to a witness in the case to Trump’s defense attorneys, saying there is highly personal information included on the phones.
In addition to limiting the release of certain information that prosecutors provide to Trump from becoming public, they also asked the judge to limit the release to the public of identifying information about any support personnel working for the prosecution team until for jury selection to begin in the case.
They cited past statements by Trump about Bragg and the judge in the case.
