Alvin Bragg blames Trump for 'death threats' against him, demands judge extend gag order

Prosecutors with Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office on Friday urged Judge Juan Merchan to keep the gag order in place on Donald Trump that was ordered for his falsified business records case. Trump is set to be sentenced in the case on July 11 after being found guilty on 34 felony counts.

Prosecutors wrote in the 19-page filing that while Merchan could let the portion of the gag order relating to witnesses go, he should keep the provision barring Trump from speaking about the jurors, prosecutors, court staff, and their families in place, the New York Times reported.

Bragg’s office said that the New York Police Department has recorded 56 "actionable threats" since the beginning of April against Bragg, his family, and employees of his office, an affidavit included with the filing stated.

The threat allegedly included a post revealing the home address of an employee of the DA's office, as well as bomb threats made on the first day of the trial that were directed at two people involved in the case. The outlet noted that the posts were "evidently made by supporters of Mr. Trump," not Trump himself.

The 56 threats did not include the hundreds of "threatening emails and phone calls" that Bragg’s office has received, prosecutors stated, and police are not tracking these are "threat cases."

The New York Court of Appeals has declined to hear Trump’s appeal of the gag order, with the top court stating that there was "no substantial constitutional question is directly involved" with the gag order in place.

Trump’s attorneys had filed a notice of appeal with the Court of Appeals on May 15, arguing that the gag order violated Trump’s "core political speech on matters of central importance at the height of his Presidential campaign."

Prosecutors wrote that the gag order is necessary to keep given Trump’s "singular history of inflammatory and threatening public statements" and efforts from his supporters to "identify jurors and threaten violence against him," according to Spectrum News.

"Since the verdict in this case, defendant has not exempted the jurors from his alarming rhetoric that he would have ‘every right’ to seek retribution as president against the participants in this trial as a consequence of his conviction because ’sometimes revenge can be justified,’" the filing stated.

While the gag order that was placed ahead of the trial that began in April included witnesses, jurors, and others connected to the case, Bragg and the judge were not covered under it.