To Squelch Trump’s Criticism of Him, NY Prosecutor Seeks Gag Order
Arjun Singh /
Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg of Manhattan, New York, has petitioned to impose a gag order on former President Donald Trump.
Trump was indicted by Bragg on April 4, 2023, on 34 felony counts of allegedly falsifying business records related to his alleged payments of “hush money” to adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, known by her stage name of Stormy Daniels, to conceal an alleged extramarital affair with her.
On Monday, following Trump’s frequent criticism of the case and of Bragg, personally, the New York County District Attorney’s Office filed a notice of intent to bring a motion to prohibit Trump from making “extrajudicial statements” regarding the case, commonly known as a “gag order.”
“To protect the integrity of this criminal proceeding and avoid prejudice to the jury, the People respectfully request that this Court issue a narrowly tailored order restricting certain prejudicial extrajudicial statements by defendant,” began Bragg’s memorandum in support of the order. “Defendant has a long history of making public and inflammatory remarks about the participants in various judicial proceedings against him, including jurors, witnesses, lawyers, and court staff. Those remarks, as well as the inevitable reactions they incite from defendant’s followers and allies, pose a significant and imminent threat to the orderly administration of this criminal proceeding and a substantial likelihood of causing material prejudice.”
The memorandum quoted several statements by Trump on social media calling Bragg a “Racist, George Soros-backed D.A.” and claiming that he was “a danger to our Country, and should be removed immediately.” It also quoted one posting where Trump warned of “potential death & destruction in such a false charge [that] could be catastrophic for our Country” before calling Bragg a “a degenerate psychopath that [truly] hates the USA!”
“One of [the] defendant’s social media posts included a picture of [the] defendant holding a baseball bat and wielding it at the back of the District Attorney’s head,” the memorandum noted. “Defendant’s statements have resulted in credible threats of violence, harassment, and intimidation directed at the District Attorney, his staff, and the District Attorney’s Office.”
The New York Police Department’s Threat Assessment and Protection Unit, which provides security for Bragg, logged 89 cases regarding threats against him in 2023, up from one in a prior 15-month period, according to the memorandum. In August 2023, the FBI exchanged gunfire and killed Craig Deleeuw Robertson, a man in Utah, during an attempt to arrest him for planning to assassinate Bragg due to his prosecution of Trump.
Apart from the threats against Bragg, the memorandum also cites threats to officials in other jurisdictions where Trump has been indicted as reasons in support of the gag order. Apart from in New York City, Trump is currently under multicount federal felony indictments in Washington, D.C., and Miami, as well as a state indictment in Fulton County, Georgia.
“Today, the 2-tiered system of justice implemented against President Trump is on full display, with the request by another Deranged Democrat prosecutor seeking a restrictive gag order, which if granted, would impose an unconstitutional infringement on President Trump’s First Amendment rights, including his ability to defend himself, and the rights of all Americans to hear from President Trump,” wrote Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump’s campaign, in an email to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“This is election interference pure and simple. This case, like the others, is a sham orchestrated by partisan Democrats desperately attempting to prevent the reelection of President Trump and distract from the decrepit presidency of Crooked Joe Biden,” Cheung wrote. “The Radical Left will fail and President Trump will Make America Great Again.”
Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation
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