Trump given limited gag order

Judge in hush money case bars public comments about witnesses, others

A New York judge issued a gag order Tuesday barring Donald Trump from making public statements about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hushmoney criminal trial.

Judge Juan M. Merchan cited the former president's prior comments about him and others in the case, as well as a looming April 15 trial date, in granting a prosecution request for what it termed a “narrowly tailored” order barring Trump from making certain out-of-court statements.

“It is without question that the imminency of the risk of harm is now paramount,” Merchan wrote.

Prosecutors had asked for the gag order, citing what they called Trump's “long history of making public and inflammatory remarks” about people involved in his legal cases.

The gag order does not bar comments about Merchan or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, an elected Democrat.

But it prohibits Trump from attacking key figures in the case, such as his former lawyerturned-nemesis Michael Cohen or porn star Stormy Daniels.

The prosecutors' office declined to comment. Messages seeking comment were left for Trump's campaign.

The gag order adds to restrictions put in place after Trump's arraignment in April that prohibit

him from using evidence in the case to attack witnesses.

After a hearing Monday where Merchan set the April 15 trial date, Trump tore into prosecutor Matthew Colangelo on social media, referring to the former Justice Department official as a “radical left from DOJ” sent to the DA'S office “to run the trial against Trump and that

FRANK FRANKLIN II — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A gag order on former President Donald Trump still allows him to make comments about the judge and district attorney during his New York trial.