Donald Trump will not be in court as prosecution, defense debate protective order on discovery materials
Former President Donald Trump reacts as he leaves his apartment building in Manhattan. Credit: AP/Seth Wenig
The criminal case against ex-President Donald Trump is back in a Manhattan courtroom Thursday, but the country’s most famous defendant won’t be in attendance.
Prosecutors and Trump’s defense attorneys are scheduled to debate the prosecution’s request for a protective order on the case’s discovery materials, which Trump’s attorneys argued in newly released court papers would essentially serve as a gag order to unfairly “muzzle” their client as he seeks a second term as president.
Prosecutors contend Trump, who has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for allegedly paying hush money to a porn star to cover up an affair, should be prohibited from publicly sharing any of the evidence to be turned over as part of the discovery process — including on his social media platform — and have asked acting Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to issue a protective order over the discovery.
But Trump’s attorneys, in court papers filed before Thursday’s hearing on the prosecution motion, said the prosecution’s proposed protective order was “extraordinarily broad” and would hamper Trump’s ability to mount his defense and “violates federalism principles by transforming this Court into an arbiter of what a candidate for President may say to prospective voters.”
WHAT TO KNOW
- In a Manhattan courtroom Thursday, prosecutors and Trump’s defense attorneys are scheduled to debate the prosecution’s request for a protective order on the case’s discovery materials.
- Attorneys for former President Donald Trump argued in newly released court papers the protective order would essentially serve as a gag order to unfairly “muzzle” their client as he seeks a second term as president.
- Prosecutors contend Trump should be prohibited from publicly sharing any of the evidence to be turned over as part of the discovery process — including on his social media platform.
- Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for allegedly paying hush money to a porn star to cover up an affair.
“The people have proposed what would be an unprecedented and extraordinarily broad muzzle on a leading contender for the presidency of the United States,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “President Trump is the leading Republican candidate for President of the United States. To state the obvious, there will continue to be significant public commentary about this case and his candidacy, to which he has a right and a need to respond, both for his own sake and for the benefit of the voting public.”
Under the prosecution’s proposal, Trump would be barred from using any of the discovery material “for any purpose other than his defense,” prosecutors have said. Trump would have to review any material in his attorney’s presence and would be unable to make copies or take away any notes and would be barred from sharing the contents of the discovery to the news media, or from posting its contents on social media. Trump’s legal team also would be required to obtain permission from prosecutors before sharing any portion of forensic images of witnesses’ cellphone records, a proposal that Trump’s lawyers lambasted as “an unprecedented and unjustified intrusion into the attorney-client relationship.”
Though criminal defendants are generally required to attend court when their cases are on the docket, Trump’s appearance at Thursday’s hearing has been waived. He’s not expected to come back to Manhattan Criminal Court until Dec. 8.
In its motion seeking the protective order, prosecutors cited Trump’s history of publicly “attacking” his legal adversaries.
“This pattern, particularly given that Defendant is currently under federal investigation for his handling of classified materials, gives rise to significant concern that Defendant will similarly misuse grand jury and other sensitive materials here,” prosecutors wrote.
Trump’s attorneys also criticized prosecutors, including Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, for holding a news conference after Trump’s arraignment, and allowing two of its witnesses — former Trump fixer Michael Cohen and ex-porn star Stormy Daniels — to speak disparagingly of Trump in public without recourse.
“After attempting to damage his reputation in the eyes of the public with their characterizations of the facts of this case, the People seek to prevent President Trump from telling the American people about the many weaknesses of the People’s case and the exculpatory evidence obtained in the discovery process,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “This is, in practice, an attempt to gag a leading candidate for the Presidency of the United States and it is a clear infringement upon the First Amendment rights of the President Trump and the American electorate.”
Trump, 76, a Queens native, announced his run for the Republican nomination for president last year after he lost his 2020 reelection bid to President Joe Biden.
Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.
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