Former President Donald Trump will appear in court virtually on Tuesday to hear the parameters of the protective order imposed by a Manhattan judge in the criminal case against him.
Trump pleaded not guilty last month to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. It marked the first time in United States history that criminal charges were brought against a former president.
DEBT LIMIT: MULVANEY SAYS 14TH AMENDMENT ROUTE COULD BE HARMFUL AS TALKS CONTINUE
Prosecutors asked Judge Juan Merchan to enact a gag order preventing Trump from speaking about the case, as his trademark inflammatory speech on social media and in statements has led to civil unrest and violent threats made toward people such as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg since the charges were announced.
Merchan instead opted for a protective order that prevents the former president from sharing any evidence turned over by the Manhattan district attorney's office throughout the trial. The judge said he wanted to give Trump the freedom to speak about the case, as he is a 2024 presidential candidate.
"Should Defendant violate the terms of any protective order issued by the Court, the People may seek to enforce its terms by initiating a prosecution for Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree," the district attorney's office said in a court filing last month. In "advancing such a prosecution, the People will be required to show that Defendant had knowledge of the contents of the order."
Trump will appear virtually on Tuesday afternoon to hear the terms and affirm his understanding and acknowledgment of the order.
Trump's legal team had argued prior to Merchan's decision that placing a gag order on the president would have been "unprecedented."
"The People have proposed what would be an unprecedented and extraordinarily broad muzzle on a leading contender for the presidency of the United States," defense attorneys Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles wrote in an opposition memo submitted ahead of a hearing on May 4.
The former president recently appeared at a town hall hosted by CNN, where he blasted the outcome of a sexual assault and defamation case brought against him by E. Jean Carroll.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
He reiterated claims that Carroll was a "liar" and that he had never met her before, and he decried it as a political ploy.
“What’s happening is they are doing this for election interference,” Trump said of the trial’s verdict at the town hall on May 10. “This woman, I don’t know her, I never met her, I have no idea who she is.”