Manhattan DA seeks gag order against Trump in hush money criminal case

The Manhattan district attorney’s office is asking a criminal court judge to impose a limited gag order against Donald Trump, citing his “long history” of “inflammatory” remarks aimed at the parties involved in his mountain of litigation.

A 30-page filing on Monday cites Mr Trump’s threatening social media posts, including a photo he posted that depicts him wielding a baseball bat at the back of District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s head.

The filing also notes that his office has received at least two “terroristic mailings” that included envelopes with white powder.

Theformer president will stand trial in New York on 25 March on nearly three dozen charges of falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments made to an adult film star at the onset of his 2016 presidential campaign.

The trial will likely be his first criminal proceedings among the four cases against him, as well as the first criminal trial against any current or former president.

Mr Trump and his attorneys faced gag orders in his civil fraud trial, after he repeatedly targeted the court’s chief clerk, fuelling a wave of credible death threats against the judge overseeing the case and his staff. Federal prosecutors also sought a gag order in his federal election conspiracy case, noting Mr Trump’s attacks are “part of a pattern, stretching back years, in which people publicly targeted” by him are “subject to harassment, threats, and intimidation.”

In a filing on Monday, lawyers with the district attorney’s office similarly warned against threats of intimidation and harassment, with an affidavit from a New York City Police Department official noting the “direct connection” between Mr Trump’s statements and threats.

Prosecutors are asking the court