Manhattan DA details new death threats, OKs letting Trump rip hush money case witnesses

Manhattan prosecutors on Friday detailed new death threats they argued were tied “directly” to Donald Trump’s “dangerous rhetoric” — as they also approved allowing the ex-president to rip witnesses in his hush money case now that the verdict’s in.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office agreed with lawyers for Trump, 78, that the limited gag order in the case — in which a jury found the presumptive Republican presidential nominee guilty of covering up a payment to a porn star — should be lifted as it relates to trial witnesses like Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels.

“The compelling interest in protecting the witnesses’ ability to testify without interference is no longer present” in light of last month’s verdict, the DA’s office wrote in a letter to the court.

But the rest of the order — which is designed to protect the safety of people involved in the case — should remain in place, prosecutors said, highlighting 56 alarming new threats received by Bragg, his family and his staff since April, that the NYPD deemed “actionable.”

Two people “involved in this case” received bomb threats at their homes on the day jury selection kicked off on April 15, according to a sworn affidavit from an NYPD sergeant who heads Bragg’s security detail.

Another “threatening post” disclosed the home address of a DA employee involved in the case, the sergeant wrote.

A separate post depicted “sniper sights on people involved in this case or a family member of such a person,” and other attacks included the language “we will kill you all,” “RIP,” and “your life is done,” the affidavit says.

The recent crop of threats are “directly connected” to Trump’s “dangerous rhetoric about this prosecution,” according to Bragg’s office.

“As defendant’s continued conduct makes clear, the need to protect participants in this criminal proceeding and the integrity of the criminal justice process from defendant’s attacks remains critically important,” prosecutors wrote.

Trump has an extensive history of online attacks on witnesses, lawyers and judges involved in the criminal cases against him. In March 2023, he posted an image of himself holding a baseball bat next to Bragg’s head — threatening “death and destruction” if he was criminally charged in New York.

In an interview with the TV host Dr. Phil given a week after the Manhattan jury convicted him on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, Trump insisted that he had “every right” to seek retribution against his enemies.

“Sometimes revenge can be justified Phil, I have to be honest,” Trump said in the interview, without specifying who he was talking about.

The gag order has always allowed Trump to criticize the case in broad terms and to attack Bragg and Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.

During the trial, Trump did so repeatedly, while arguing that the case was a politically motivated plot against him.

Any changes to the gag order, including allowing Trump to speak about witnesses like Cohen and Daniels, would need to be approved first by the judge before going into effect.

Trump has repeatedly complained that the gag order is unfair — but state appeals courts have kept it in place, rejecting the ex-president’s claim that his First Amendment rights were breached.

Merchan fined Trump $10,000 for violating the order 10 times, including by griping about the jury on an April 22 radio show.

Trump claimed in an interview that the jury was “95% Democrats,” despite the fact that none of the jurors were asked to disclose their political parties, which is a normal practice in politically heated cases like his.

Trump is due to be sentenced on July 11. He could face up to four years in prison, or, more likely, either probation or a conditional discharge that could include community service.

Trump’s legal team did not respond Friday to a request to comment.