NY judge issues gag order on Trump in hush money trial, blasting his ‘threatening, inflammatory, denigrating’ statements

(CNN) —A New York judge has imposed a gag order on Donald Trump, limiting the former president from making statements about potential witnesses in the criminal trial relating to hush money payments scheduled to begin next month.Judge Juan Merchan also said that Trump can’t make statements about attorneys, court staff or the family members of prosecutors or lawyers intended to interfere with the case. Trump is also barred from making statements about any potential or actual juror.The former president, Merchan wrote, has a history of making “threatening, inflammatory, denigrating” statements against people at all levels of the justice system, including jurors.The ruling will prevent Trump from criticizing his former attorney, Michael Cohen, or adult film star Stormy Daniels, who are both expected to be witnesses at trial.The order does not prevent Trump from talking about New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is a public figure, or Merchan himself.The gag order comes as Trump has repeatedly attacked the district attorney’s case and those involved with it ahead of what would be the first criminal trial of a former president. Trump criticized Merchan, his daughter and one of Bragg’s prosecutors in the hours before Merchan issued his order.“The uncontested record reflecting...