“Stunning”: Expert says gag order filing shows DA treating Trump trial like “organized crime case”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is already seeking a partial gag order to ensure that former President Donald Trump and his legal team are unable to publicly attack or threaten witnesses, jurors, staffers, and others who may be involved in the former president's upcoming criminal hush money trial.

Bragg's office, in a series of motions filed Monday to New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, wrote that Trump “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."

The motion cited the hundreds of concerning messages his office received after he first indicted the ex-president for allegedly falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels last March. Bragg's office also noted that Trump's propensity for public remarks about perceived political or legal adversaries “pose a significant and imminent threat to the orderly administration of this criminal proceeding and a substantial likelihood of causing material prejudice."

Prosecutors in the motion also requested that Merchan withhold jury information from Trump if he intimidates the jury selection process, which is slated to begin on March 25, given that his past behavior “presents a significant risk of juror harassment and intimidation that warrants reasonable protective measures.”

The district attorney's team also underscored Trump's comments about the jury foreperson in the 2019 trial of his campaign adviser, Roger Stone, as well as Trump's fraudulent accusations against two Georgia poll workers — Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman — in 2020. Moss and Freeman faced an inundation of racist and threatening phone calls, and Freeman eventually had to move once her address was circulated online. 

Prosecutors in the motion argued that keeping the names and addresses of jurors private would “ensure the integrity of these proceedings, minimize obstacles to jury selection, and protect juror safety.” As noted by The Washington Post, the requested gag order would not shield Bragg from Trump's inevitable vitriol.

"One of the most stunning aspects of the protective order the Manhattan DA seeks in his prosecution of Donald Trump," tweeted former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, "is that although Trump is entitled to know the identities of jurors, the DA has asked to keep their addresses secret. Like you would in an organized crime case."

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Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung on Monday responded to news of the gag order request by calling it a form of election interference, according to WaPo. Cheung said it “would impose an unconstitutional infringement” on the ex-president, “including his ability to defend himself, and the rights of all Americans to hear from President Trump.”

Trump has faced gag orders in several other legal cases, including a limited gag order imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan in his D.C. election subversion trial as well as a partial gag order in his New York civil fraud trial.