Former President Donald Trump has been hit with a new order from the judge overseeing his criminal hush money case in New York state.
Judge Juan Merchan issued an order Monday that restricts Trump from posting about some evidence in the case on social media.
The ruling largely sides with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who had requested a protective order to ensure Trump does not misuse evidence provided by the prosecution. The order says that “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 singles out Trump, saying he is allowed to review sensitive “Limited Dissemination Materials“ from prosecutors only in the presence of his lawyers and “shall not be permitted to copy, photograph, transcribe, or otherwise independently possess the Limited Dissemination Materials.”
Trump’s lawyers had complained that the DA‘s proposed order was “extremely restrictive” and “infringes upon President Trump’s First Amendment right to freely discuss his own character and qualifications for federal office and the First Amendment rights of the American people to hear President Trump’s side of the story.”
But Judge Merchan said prosecutors had shown “good cause“ for their request.
The ruling comes as Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and another woman toward the end of his 2016 presidential campaign to prevent them from speaking about their allegations of affairs with him. He has pleaded not guilty and has said he did not have an extramarital affair.
Trump has maintained Bragg and the judge are biased against him, and his lawyers filed paperwork last week seeking to have the case transferred to federal court. The request is pending.
The former president’s legal team did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
The new order restricts Trump from publicly disclosing any new evidence from the prosecution before the case goes to trial, and it places strict limits on what he is allowed to do with the evidence. It is yet another setback for Trump in his ongoing legal battle with the state of New York.
