Former Watergate prosecutor calls Trump gag order ‘so unusual’: ‘This never happens’

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Nick Akerman, a former Watergate prosecutor, said that in his 50-some years in law, he has never seen a gag order like the one imposed on former President Trump in his hush money payments case this week.

New York Judge Juan Merchan issued the gag order on Tuesday following a request from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

"This is so unusual," Akerman told CNN’s Fredericka Whitfield on Wednesday. "This never happens, in over 50 years in law practice, both as a prosecutor and a defense lawyer."

He added, "It’s not done, and the reason it’s not done is because once you start disparaging the judge, disparaging people in the courtroom, you’re putting yourself in harm’s way because that’s the judge that’s going to sentence you."

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Akerman added that Trump is "the only one I have ever seen do this and do it in such an outrageous way that it’s really forced the courts – to where does the First Amendment stop and where do we need a gag order in order to protect the judicial system?"

Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has been highly critical of the judge, calling the gag order "illegal, un-American, unconstitutional," saying that Merchan was "wrongfully attempting to deprive me of my First Amendment Right to