ANew York judge on Monday banned former President Donald Trump from sharing evidence related to his criminal hush money case on social media.
Judge Juan Merchan’s order, which sided heavily with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation, stated, “any materials and information provided by the People to the Defense in accordance with their discovery obligations … shall be used solely for the purposes of preparing a defense in this matter.”
The order also said that the ex-president may view “Limited Dissemination Materials” from prosecutors only while in the presence of his attorneys and “shall not be permitted to copy, photograph, transcribe, or otherwise independently possess the Limited Dissemination Materials.”
The order added that Trump is banned from reviewing “forensic images of witness cell phones,” though lawyers may show him “approved portions.”
NBC News reported that prosecutors in the criminal case have pushed for “safeguards that will protect the integrity of the materials,” arguing that the likelihood of Trump using the evidence “inappropriately is substantial.”
“About. Damn. Time.” tweeted MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner.
“This is more like it,” lawyer and political commentator Tristan Snell wrote on Twitter. “No special treatment. ANY defendant doing what Trump did would be treated this way.”
“(Contempt violation coming in 1 2 3…)” tweeted Jeffery Evan Gold, an attorney and legal analyst.
Last month, Trump targeted Merchan in a Truth Social rant after learning the judge would be presiding over the case, which involves his role in payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels leading up to the 2016 election. Trump cited right-wing reports that Merchan’s daughter worked for Kamala Harris’s campaign in 2019 before she dropped out of the presidential race.
“THE HIGHLY PARTISAN JUDGE & HIS FAMILY ARE WELL KNOWN TRUMP HATERS,” Trump claimed. “HE WAS AN UNFAIR DISASTER ON A PREVIOUS TRUMP RELATED CASE, WOULDN’T RECUSE, GAVE HORRIBLE JURY INSTRUCTIONS, & IMPOSSIBLE TO DEAL WITH DURING THE WITCH HUNT TRIAL. HIS DAUGHTER WORKED FOR “KAMALA” & NOW THE BIDEN-HARRIS CAMPAIGN. KANGAROO COURT!!!”
Trump has also lashed out at Bragg and other prosecutors investigating him.
“Trump continues to post things, false things, dangerous things about the prosecutors who are investigating his crimes, about the prosecutors who have indicted him, have charged him, and they’re actually in court, prosecuting his crimes,” Kirschner warned in a video on Sunday. “And these are posts that deploy lies and disinformation to poison the well of public opinion, to poison all future jury pools. And that put prosecutors and their family and their staff members at risk.”
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy