Judge hands Trump another gag order as he grants restrictions in hush money trial

Donald Trump will be restricted from making any public statements about witnesses, jurors, lawyers, court staff and their families, according to a partial gag order from New York Justice Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the so-called hush money case against theformer president.

The judge’s order, issued hours after Mr Trump lashed out at his daughter on his Truth Social, blocks the former president from making any such statements “made with the intent to materially interfere” with any work in the case, which is scheduled to go to trial on 15 April.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg requested a limited gag order last month, citing Mr Trump’s “long history” of “inflammatory” remarks aimed at the prosecutors, judges, court staff and others wrapped up in his mountain of criminal and civil litigation.

The district attorney’s office also pointed to Mr Trump’s threatening social media posts, including a photo he posted that depicts him wielding a baseball bat at the back of Mr Bragg’s head.

The February filing from Mr Bragg’s office also notes that his office received at least two “terroristic mailings” that included envelopes with white powder following Mr Trump’s ongoing attacks against the prosecutors leading the cases against him.

The former president “has a long history of making public and inflammatory remarks about the participants in various judicial proceedings against him, including jurors, witnesses, lawyers and court staff,” according to prosecutors, noting that such statements “pose a significant and imminent threat to the orderly administration of this criminal proceeding.”

A “narrowly tailored” request to rein in Mr Trump’s remarks will ensure “the integrity of the upcoming trial while still affording [Mr