Alvin Bragg pursuing order to stop Trump from discussing evidence: report

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is seeking a judicial order blocking former President Donald Trump from publicly discussing the evidence in the criminal trial against him, reported Bloomberg News on Tuesday.

“The risk that this defendant will use the covered materials inappropriately is substantial,” said Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Catherine McCaw in a filing, per the report. “Defendant has a long history of discussing his legal matters publicly — including by targeting witnesses, jurors, investigators, prosecutors, and judges with harassing, embarrassing, and threatening statements on social media and in other public forums — and he has already done so in this case.”

The indictment includes dozens of felony charges of bookkeeping fraud, stemming from the former president's alleged $130,000 hush payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump has denied this was a hush payment and that any part of the deal was illegal, but experts have suggested it could effectively be an illegal campaign finance scheme.

In the run-up to the indictment, as it became clearer he would be charged, Trump engaged in racist attacks on Bragg, and even posted an image of himself facing down Bragg with a baseball bat.

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He also called for protests in the streets, which even fellow Republican leaders criticized, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).

The New York case may not be the only criminal prosecution against Trump. Earlier this week, Fulton County, Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis urged law enforcement to prepare for protests ahead of her decision in the summer whether to bring charges against the former president for his role in the plot to interfere with the certification of Georgia's presidential vote.