Donald Trump could be given gag order ahead of Manhattan criminal trial

There’s been discussion about whether Judge Juan Merchan will impose a gag order on former President Donald Trump ahead of his Manhattan trial following his indictment.

What is a gag order? Basically, it means Trump would not be allowed to publicly discuss the case. He would also be prevented from posting about it on Truth Social, his social media platform, where he continued to hurl baseless attacks at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Monday night.

» READ MORE: Donald Trump arraignment: Live updates

Gag orders aren’t uncommon in high-profile cases. Trump ally Roger Stone was placed under a gag order after he was indicted for obstruction in 2019. But would present a challenge for Trump, considering he’s running for president. In fact, Trump is scheduled to speak to supporters Tuesday night after he travels back to Florida following the arraignment.

“I think it would be challenging to do it out of the box,” Daniel Horwitz, a former assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, now in private practice, told NBC News. “There usually has to be a predicate for it.”

Duncan Levin, a former senior staffer with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office who’s now a defense attorney known for representing clients including Harvey Weinstein and Anna Sorokin, told Insider he believes it’s “highly likely” Merchan issues a gag order.

“I think it’s not only a possibility, but it’s extremely likely that there will be a gag order in the case,” Levin said. “Gag orders are very common in criminal cases, particularly in cases where there is an enormous amount of pretrial publicity like this one.”

If Merchan issues a gag order, it would likely feature narrow wording that only covers the case, allowing Trump to speak publicly about many other issues as he continues his presidential campaign.

In New York, violating a gag order could be ruled contempt of court, which could lead to a $1,000 fine and/or up to 30 days in jail.

If Merchan decides against a gag order, he could issue a warning to Trump and his legal team about the language he uses to describe the case moving forward. Trump has already called Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg an “animal” on social media and posted an inflammatory image of himself holding a baseball bat next to Bragg’s head. That image has since been deleted.

During an appearance on Good Morning America Tuesday, Trump attorney Joe Tacopina said he was confident Merchan would not issue a gag order.

“The defendant is the leading Republican candidate for the office of the president of the United States, and will be campaigning. Hard to put a gag order when he’s going to be fielding questions about his current legal situation,” Tacopina said. “But there’s been no indication that there’ll be a gag order imposed or even attempted to be imposed.”