Ahead of the hush money trial, Judge Juan Merchan imposed a gag order on Donald Trump which blocks him from speaking out about potential witnesses and most people in or associated with the court or the New York district attorney’s office.
In that initial order — imposed in March — Merchan also said that Trump can’t make statements about attorneys, court staff or the family members of prosecutors or lawyers intended to interfere with the case. Trump is also barred from making statements about any potential or actual juror.
The ruling also prevents Trump from criticizing his former attorney, Michael Cohen, or adult film star Stormy Daniels, both witnesses in the trial.
The former president, Merchan said in his order, has a history of making “threatening, inflammatory, denigrating” statements against people at all levels of the justice system, including jurors. The order does not prevent Trump from talking about New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is a public figure, or Merchan himself.
The gag order was imposed after Trump repeatedly attacked the district attorney’s case and those involved with it ahead of what would be the first criminal trial of a former president. Trump criticized Merchan, his daughter and one of Bragg’s prosecutors in the hours before Merchan issued his order in March.
Since then, Trump has been fined for violating the order 10 times and the judge warned on May 6 that “this court will have to consider a jail sanction” if the former president violates it again. Merchan fined Trump $1,000 for the violation ruling on May 6. A week prior, the judge fined Trump $9,000 for nine previous violations of the judge’s gag order. Violations of the gag order are punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, by jail time of up to 30 days, or both.
During remarks before entering the courtroom for the trial’s proceedings, Trump has repeatedly railed against the gag order and the case. He has also relied on allies to deliver attacks outside the court.
