Former President Donald Trump's attorneys plan to push back against the possibility of a gag order placed upon their client in the Manhattan indictment for hush money payments, saying that placing a "muzzle" on the former president is unprecedented.
Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records during the 2016 campaign to cover up hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who planned on going public about an affair she had with the former president in 2005. Since the historic criminal indictment, Trump has condemned the charges that he believes are politically motivated.
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Manhattan prosecutors asked for New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to place a gag order on Trump and his legal team, prohibiting them from discussing any details of the case. However, Trump's attorneys are prepared to defend the president against the request at a hearing on Thursday.
"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 the hearing, which began at 9 a.m.
Merchan, who presided over Trump's initial appearance in court, urged both parties to refrain from making public statements about the case that could lead to civil unrest — a nod to Trump, whose inflammatory remarks led to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, according to his detractors.
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office would like to give Trump's team access to evidence that is "subject to safeguards" so Trump cannot post about the evidence on social media.
"Defendant Donald J. Trump has a longstanding and perhaps singular history of attacking witnesses, investigators, prosecutors, trial jurors, grand jurors, judges, and others involved in legal proceedings against him, putting those individuals and their families at considerable safety risk," Assistant District Attorney Catherine McCaw said in a court filing asking for the protective order.
However, the defense has accused the prosecution of trying to prevent Trump "from telling the American people about the many weaknesses" of the case.
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"This is, in practice, an attempt to gag a leading candidate for the Presidency of the United States and it is a clear infringement upon the First Amendment rights of President Trump and the American electorate," the defense attorneys said, adding they would be more inclined to accept a protective order that restrains both parties.
Trump himself will not be at Thursday's hearing. He is facing a slew of legal scandals related to past misconduct. He is currently embroiled in a civil defamation case brought by E. Jean Carroll. The former president decided to withdraw his expert witness on Wednesday and will not put up a defense in the trial. He has denied the allegations that he raped Carroll in the 1990s and has called her a "liar" and her claims a "hoax."