Manhattan DA pushes for Donald Trump not to use evidence publicly: The former president loves to re-litigate his legal troubles on social media and sometimes in speeches. But he might not be allowed to in his New York case if the judge sides with the district attorney
Donald Trump: More Legal Drama?
Those who read Donald Trump’s Truth Social feed know that he likes to use it to litigate often arcane matters of this various legal cases, often taking shots at his adversaries in those cases. This includes Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who has emerged as a key Trump villain since even prior to the former president’s criminal indictment in Manhattan.
Now, Bragg’s office is trying to prevent such moments, especially using non-public evidence from the case.
Assistant District Attorney Catherine McCaw filed a motion earlier this week asking the judge to order that discovery materials in the case be used only at trial by the defense, with Trump only allowed to view evidence with his attorneys present.
Trump, per the motion, “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,” and the motion is meant to prevent that sort of thing in relation to this case.
Trump’s attorneys are expected to oppose the motion, the New York Times said. In addition, the district attorney’s office has not called for a full gag order in the case.
The Times reported in early April about Trump’s history, in various legal proceedings, of both attacking his opponents and trying to delay cases.
The motion also mentioned one of Trump’s other legal cases.
The former president “is currently under federal investigation for his handling of classified materials, gives rise to significant concern that defendant will similarly misuse grand jury and other sensitive materials here,” the motion from ADA McCaw said.
Charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records, in connection with alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in relation to their alleged 2006 affair. Trump has pled not guilty to all counts. The case is both the first-ever criminal indictment of a former president and the first time Trump has ever faced criminal charges.
The motion also asked that those who receive such materials “shall not copy, disseminate, or disclose the Covered Materials, in any form or by any means, to any third party” other than counsel, and also prevent them from “disseminating or posting the Covered Materials to any news or social media platforms, including, but not limited, to Truth Social, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, Snapchat, or YouTube, without prior approval from the Court.”
Also, the motion requests that the names and information about personnel of the DA’s office be delayed until jury selection takes place. With Trump’s next court appearance in the Manhattan case not scheduled until later this year, a trial is unlikely to get underway until January 2024.
More Legal Problems
Trump is also facing another case in New York, that is currently on trial: The civil rape and defamation case brought by journalist E. Jean Carroll. On Wednesday, Carroll testified that she was raped by Trump in a New York City department store dressing room in 1996.
Trump has not yet appeared in court for the trial, and it’s unlikely that he will. Per The Daily Beast, the trial will include testimony from several other women who have accused Trump of sexual assault, as well as friends of Carroll who can corroborate that she told them of the alleged assault at the time.
In addition, the “Access Hollywood” tape that nearly upended the 2016 election will be presented as evidence in the trial.
“Does anybody believe that I would take a then almost 60-year-old woman (2) that I didn’t know from the front door of a very crowded department store,” Trump wrote on Truth Social about the case this week, leading the judge in the case to warn him against such posts.
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Expertise and Experience:
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
