Manhattan DA wants gag order for Trump, seeks to play ‘Access Hollywood’ tape at hush-money trial
NEW YORK — Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s New York hush-money criminal case asked a judge Monday to impose a gag order on the former president ahead of next month’s trial, citing what they called his “long history of making public and inflammatory remarks” about people involved in his legal cases.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office is asking for what it described as a “narrowly tailored” order that would bar Trump from making or directing others to make public statements about potential witnesses and jurors, as well as statements meant to interfere with or harass the court’s staff, prosecution team or their families.
The district attorney’s office is also seeking approval to show jurors the infamous “Access Hollywood” video, made public in the final weeks of Trump’s 2016 White House campaign, in which he bragged about grabbing women’s genitals without asking for permission.
Prosecutors contend the release of the 2005 footage, followed by a flurry of women coming forward to accuse Trump of sexual assault, hastened his efforts to keep negative stories out of the press, leading to one of the hush-money arrangements at the heart of the case.
Trump’s lawyers wrote in court papers Monday that the “Access Hollywood” video “contains inflammatory and unduly prejudicial evidence that has no place at this trial about documents and accounting practices.”
The judge, Juan Manuel Merchan, didn’t rule immediately on the requests.
Jury selection is scheduled to start March 25. Barring a last-minute delay, it will be the first of Trump’s four criminal cases to go to trial.
Imposing a gag order on Trump would add to restrictions put in place after his arraignment last April that prohibit him from using evidence in the case to attack witnesses. Prosecutors are also proposing that the names of jurors be kept from the public to “minimize obstacles to jury selection, and protect juror safety.”
Without limits, prosecutors said, Trump’s rhetoric would “create a significant and imminent threat to the trial by distracting personnel, diverting government resources, and delaying the administration of justice.”
A spokesperson for Trump’s presidential campaign called the gag order request “election interference pure and simple” and called the hush-money case a “sham orchestrated by partisan Democrats desperately attempting to prevent” Trump from returning to the White House.
Trump lawyer Susan Necheles said the defense will respond in court papers later this week.
