A New York judge on Monday issued a protective order against former President Donald Trump in the Manhattan District Attorney’s criminal case, designed to ensure evidence shared by prosecutors doesn’t end up on the internet.
Trump last month pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records related to what prosecutors are calling an “illegal scheme” to influence the 2016 presidential election by ordering his then-personal attorney, Michael Cohen, $130,000 paying adult film actress Stormy Daniels to prevent her from publicizing a long-denied affair with Trump.
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Trump compensated Cohen with a series of monthly checks that prosecutors said led to falsified business records designed to disguise the true purpose of the payments.
“All materials and information provided by the people to the defense during the trial “may be used solely for the purpose of preparing a defense in this matter,” read the order, signed by Judge Juan Merchan.
The Order states: “Any person receiving the Covered Materials may not copy, distribute or disclose the Covered Materials to any third party in any form or by any means, including without limitation, distributing or posting the Covered Materials to News.” – or any social media platform, including but not limited to Truth Social, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, Snapchat, or YouTube, without prior court approval.”
Prosecutors sought the protection order because of what they called a “comprehensive history” of Trump’s inflammatory remarks about witnesses, prosecutors and others connected to cases pending against him, Assistant District Attorney Catherine McCaw said at a hearing last week.
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Merchan made it clear that the order will not prevent Trump from speaking out about the case broadly during the campaign as Trump is running for a second term as president.
“I make every effort to give him every opportunity to make his candidacy,” Merchan said at last week’s hearing. “It’s not a muzzle.”
Trump must attend a virtual hearing where the protection order will be read to him. Prosecutors requested the hearing, and the judge agreed to ensure Trump understood the order.
Judge in Trump’s criminal case issues safeguard order to prevent disclosure of evidence originally posted on abcnews.go.com
