By Kara Scannell, CNN
Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office have asked the judge overseeing The criminal case of Donald Trump to impose a protective order that restricts the former president’s ability to publish information about the investigation.
In a motion, prosecutors told the judge that Trump’s team would not consent to a protective order.
“The risk that this Defendant will use the Covered Materials inappropriately is substantial. The defendant has a long history of discussing his legal issues publicly, including addressing witnesses, jurors, investigators, prosecutors, and judges with harassing, embarrassing, and threatening statements on social media and other public forums, and has already done so in this case. ”the prosecutors wrote in the filing.
Manhattan prosecutors have accused Trump of falsification of business records with the intent to conceal illegal conduct related to his 2016 presidential campaign. The criminal charges stem from the Manhattan district attorney Alvin BraggThe investigation into hush money payments, made during the 2016 campaign, to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump, which he denies. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
In seeking the protection order, prosecutors cited some of Trump’s previous attacks on witnesses who previously spoke against him, including his former personal attorney. michael cohen and Alejandro Vindmanna former national security official who testified publicly during Trump’s first impeachment trial.
They asked the judge to order that Trump only be allowed to see certain material turned over by prosecutors in the presence of his defense attorney and not be allowed to copy material designated as “limited release material.”
Specifically, they asked the judge to instruct anyone who receives materials, including grand jury testimony, not to post them to any news organizations or social media websites without the judge’s approval. They also asked the judge to limit the use of any materials provided to Trump to defend this case.
“To begin with, it is important to note that the Town is not seeking a gag order in this case at this time. The defendant has a constitutional right to speak publicly about this case, and the people do not seek to infringe on that right,” prosecutors wrote.
Prosecutors also asked the judge to limit review of images of two cellphones linked to a witness in the case to Trump’s defense attorneys, saying there is highly personal information included on the phones.
In addition to limiting the release of certain information that prosecutors give to Trump from becoming public, they also asked the judge to limit the release of identifying information about any support personnel working for the prosecution team to the public until for jury selection to begin in the case.
They quoted Trump past statements about Bragg and the judge on the case.
The CNN Wire
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