Judge Overseeing Trump Hush Money Case Issues Gag Order

The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s New York hush money case issued a gag order on Tuesday.

The order bars Trump from making statements about witnesses, prosecutors other than the district attorney, court staff, their families and prospective jurors. Judge Juan Merchan wrote in his order that Trump’s “inflammatory extrajudicial statements undoubtedly risk impeding the orderly administration of this Court.”

“Although this Court did not issue an order restricting Defendant’s speech at the inception of this case, choosing instead to issue an admonition, given the nature and impact of the statements made against this Court and a family member thereof, the District Attorney and an assistant District attorney, the witnesses in this case, as well as the nature and impact of the extrajudicial statements made by Defendant in the D.C. Circuit case (which resulted in the D.C. Circuit issuing an order restricting his speech), and given that the eve 0f trial is upon us, it is without question that the imminency of the risk of harm is now paramount,” Merchan wrote.

Merchan decided Monday that the trial would begin with jury selection on April 15, declining Trump’s request to further delay the proceedings.

Trump was indicted in April 2023 on 34 counts for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.