Judge could issue gag order in Trump criminal case, experts say

The judge overseeing the criminal case against Donald Trump could issue a gag order if he feels the former president’s words could incite violence or influence a jury pool, a lawyer told The Post.

“I would not be surprised,” former Manhattan prosecutor Michael Bachner told The Post. “A court has a right to and often does issue gag orders in high-profile criminal cases.”

But he said it’ll be a balancing act for the presiding judge — who is expected to be Judge Juan Manuel Merchan — since Trump has a strong claim to free speech as a candidate for president.

“It certainly is feasible that if the court feels that Mr. Trump is either acting to instigate disorder or chaos or acts of violence or he’s acting to try to affect a potential jury pool or to say things to deprive the government of a fair trial … yeah, the court could issue a gag order,” Bachner said.

Still, Trump could appeal a gag order and could argue that “what is happening to me is part of the election process and therefore your gag order is interfering with my right to inform the voters of my position on certain things,” Bachner said.

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“It’s going to be a very interesting First Amendment issue.”

Bachner said Trump needs to be more careful about what he says and his lawyers should do a better job of managing their client’s public reactions.

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“Trump has to know that the people he is speaking to — just a small number of them — their reactions to what he says may be unreasonable but still foreseeable and violent but still foreseeable,” Bachner said, noting if that’s the case, he could be slapped with more charges.

His lawyers need “to do a better job of curtailing him on their own,” Bachner said.

When news got out that a grand jury was weighing a “hush money” case against Trump, he called for his supporters to come out and protest.

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Hours later, a suspicious powder was sent to the DA’s office addressed to Bragg with the message, “I’m gonna kill you.”

Former Brooklyn prosecutor Adam Uris said he thinks prosecutors would ask for a gag order as a last resort only after any potential violence by protesters — because his public statements likely will only help their case.

“The more likely scenario is if Trump continues to make inciteful comments, that there be a possibility of prosecution should there be violence as a result of it,” Uris said. “I genuinely think they are going to give him enough rope to hang himself.”

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Trump was indicted in connection to the accusations that he made a $130,000 “hush money” payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 to keep her quiet about her claims that they had an affair 10 years earlier.

Trump is due to be arraigned in a Lower Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday afternoon.

The DA’s Office and Trump’s lawyers didn’t immediately return requests for comment.