The Manhattan District Attorney’s office agreed with attorneys for former President Donald Trump who said that his gag order should no longer prohibit him from speaking about trial witnesses, as the trial has concluded.
The gag order, issued by New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, had prohibited former President Trump from making statements, or directing others to make statements on his behalf, about trial witnesses, jurors, court staff, and counsel and their staff, if the statements were made to interfere with the case. This order did not cover Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg or Justice Merchan, but it did extend to their family members.
Attorneys for former President Trump argued that the prosecution’s stated concern about witness intimidation no longer stands, therefore the limits no longer stand.
“The Court issued this provision to protect prospective witnesses’ ‘willingness to participate fully and candidly,’” the brief reads. “Now that the jury has delivered a verdict, however, the compelling interest in protecting the witnesses’ ability to testify without interference is no longer present.”
Trial Witnesses
Many of the 22 trial witnesses played small roles, and several were current or former employees of Trump Organization.
But a few witnesses at the center of the case gave multi-day testimonies: ex-lawyer Michael Cohen, adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, and attorney Keith Davidson.
Mr. Cohen was a longtime lawyer for Donald Trump and frequently gave media statements on his client’s behalf during his decade of employment at Trump Organization. Mr. Cohen vehemently defended the $130,000 he paid Ms. Clifford before later claiming the payment violated campaign finance laws and was covered up by his boss.
Former President Trump had made several statements about Mr. Cohen leading up to the trial, including spotlighting Mr. Cohen’s history of perjury. During a post-trial press conference, he touched on the nature of their business relationship without using Mr. Cohen’s name.
Prior to the gag order, the former president also criticized Ms. Clifford, and has maintained there never was a sexual encounter between the two. During the trial, Ms. Clifford testified in detail about that alleged sexual encounter, which was not the subject of the case.
Other Gag Order Limits
Prosecutors argued that other parts of the gag order should remain in place, however, including restrictions on naming jurors. Defense attorneys had told the judge they have no intention of making statements about individual jurors.With the conclusion of the trial, Justice Merchan told the 12 jurors and six alternates that they were now free to talk about the case if they wished.
Prosecutors urged the court to exercise caution and keep orders protecting jurors’ identities in place.
Prosecutors also argued that former President Trump should be prohibited from making statements about court staff and counsel and family members of Mr. Bragg and Justice Merchan.
“The Court’s orders were based in part on factual evidence showing that the NYPD Threat Assessment and Protection Unit (“TAPU”) logged an increase in threat cases against the District Attorney, his family, and staff of the District Attorney’s Office from one such case in 2022 to 89 in 2023,” the brief reads.
In a June 20 affidavit, NYPD sergeant Nicholas Pistilli stated that 61 of the 289 threat cases logged with the NYPD Intelligence Bureau were threats to Mr. Bragg, his family, or employees. These included language including “we will kill you all” and “you are dead.” Additionally, 500 messages and calls from the district attorney’s office were forwarded for security review.
The majority of the threats were received while the trial was underway.
