Prosecutors seek gag order on Trump in NY criminal case

New York prosecutors have asked a judge for a gag order to restrict Donald Trump from attacking witnesses or exposing jurors' identities in the former president's Manhattan criminal case, court filings made public on Monday showed.

New York prosecutors have asked a judge for a gag order to restrict Donald Trump from attacking witnesses or exposing jurors' identities in the former president's Manhattan criminal case, court filings made public on Monday showed. The requests by the Manhattan district attorney's office noted Trump's "longstanding history of attacking witnesses, investigators, prosecutors, judges, and others involved in legal proceedings against him."

Trump is scheduled to go on trial in state court in Manhattan starting March 25 on charges of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star before the 2016 election. The case is the first of four criminal cases against Trump expected to go to trial. Trump has pleaded not guilty and argued the case should be tossed because it was brought for partisan purposes and because state laws do not apply to federal elections.

If approved, the gag order would bar Trump from "making or directing others to make" statements about witnesses concerning their role in the case. Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg also asked that Trump be barred from commenting on prosecutors on the case — other than Bragg himself — as well as court staff members.

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