MANHATTAN (CN) — The jury in Donald Trump’s upcoming criminal trial will have their names kept under wraps, a New York judge ruled on Thursday, citing risks of tampering or harassment by the former president’s team.
In a seven-page order, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan found that Trump “has an extensive history of publicly and repeatedly attacking trial jurors and grand jurors.”
“The court further finds good cause, on the record before it, ‘that there is a likelihood of bribery, jury tampering, or of physical injury or harassment of jurors,’” Merchan wrote, quoting state law which allows for these kinds of protective orders from judges.
Trump, his lawyers and his consultants will still know the jurors names, however — as will the case’s prosecutors. Other details about the jurors, like residential and work addresses, will only be known by counsel.
Despite the heightened protection of the jury, Merchan promised to keep the proceedings open.
“To be clear, the parties have not requested, and this court has not agreed, to close the courtroom during jury selection or at any other time during the proceedings,” he wrote. “Access to the courtroom by the public and the press will not be tempered in any way as a result of these protective measures.”
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has been concerned about Trump’s possible conduct in this case. In addition to asking for the jury’s anonymity, prosecutors last week pushed for a narrow gag order, citing his “long history of making public and inflammatory remarks about the participants in various judicial proceedings against him.”
Merchan’s Thursday order didn’t address the district attorney’s gag order request.
Trump had a similar gag order imposed during his recent civil fraud trial under New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who barred Trump from attacking members of his staff after repeated jabs at his chief law clerk on social media.
“Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable [and] inappropriate, and I will not tolerate them under any circumstances,” Engoron said during the trial in October.
Trump twice violated the gag order during those proceedings, costing him $15,000.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought criminal charges against the former president last year, accusing Trump of falsifying business records at the Trump Organization to cover up hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Bragg claims that Trump directed his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen to pay Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about a supposed extramarital sexual relationship with Trump, who was running in the 2016 presidential race at the time.
Trump’s lawyers are attempting to keep Cohen from testifying at the upcoming trial, calling him a liar and claiming that he committed perjury in Trump’s civil fraud case.
“The people should be precluded from suborning Michael Cohen’s perjury,” Trump attorney Todd Blanche wrote in a court filing. “He recently committed perjury, on the stand and under oath, at a civil trial involving President Trump. If his public statements are any indication, he plans to do so again at this criminal trial.”
Bragg’s office called those assertions meritless.
“The people expect Cohen’s testimony at trial to be both true and corroborated, including by extensive documentary evidence, the testimony of other witnesses, and defendant’s own statements,” prosecutors argued.
Trump pleaded not guilty last April to Bragg’s 34-count indictment. Jury selection for the trial is set to begin March 25 in Manhattan’s criminal courthouse.
The case marks the first time in U.S. history that a former president will face a criminal trial. For Trump, it’s expected to be his first of four, kicking off a packed legal calendar for the former president that starts in the midst of a polarizing election season.
Trump is expected to be the Republican presidential nominee after rival Nikki Haley dropped out of the race on Monday.
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