Former FBI official: Gag order requests in Trump case a ‘distraction’ for prosecutors

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe argued that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s request for an expanded gag order in the hush money case against former President Trump creates a “distraction” from the actual case.

“The request for clarification by DA Bragg is a perfect example of how these gag orders create more of a distraction than they do a productive limitation of Donald Trump’s speech,” McCabe said Monday in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

“I think each time we’ve had a gag order, whether it’s in the civil case or it’s in this criminal case or the gag order in the D.C. federal case that’s already been litigated, each time, the Trump team takes advantage of the imposition of those orders to file appeals to request clarification, to make overheated statements,” he added.

McCabe contended these processes “distract” the prosecution team away from focusing on the case and putting together “the best case they can.”

“I’m just not convinced that these gag orders are worth the effort that has to go behind,” he said.

His comments came shortly before Justice Juan Merchan issued a ruling Monday night to expand the former president’s gag order in his hush money case.

Trump faces 34 counts accusing him of illegally falsifying business records when reimbursing his ex-fixer, Michael Cohen, for making a payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to conceal an affair ahead of the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty, and the trial is slated to begin April 15.

The expanded gag order is intended to limit Trump’s attacks against Merchan’s daughter, Loren, who is a Democratic political consultant.

The initial gag order in the case limited the former president’s public remarks about jurors, witnesses and “family members of any counsel or staff member,” but it did not extend to family members of Merchan or Bragg.

Loren Merchan was once an executive at Authentic Campaigns, a progressive political consulting firm that worked on campaigns for several high-profile Democrats, including Vice President Harris, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and President Biden.

Last week, the former president lashed out against an account on X, formerly Twitter, that initially appeared to belong to the judge’s daughter and had a photo illustration of an imprisoned Trump as its profile picture. 

The New York state Office of Court Administration (OCA) later confirmed the account was no longer associated with Loren and said she deleted the account about a year ago.

Trump’s legal team previously demanded the judge recuse himself from the case in light of his daughters’ work, but Merchan rejected the request after seeking guidance from the state’s judicial ethics advisory committee. 

His lawyers signaled Monday that they would file a new motion seeking the judge’s recusal.

The former president also slammed the expanded gag order Tuesday, reiterating his demand Merchan recuse himself from the case.

“They can talk about me, but I can’t talk about them???” he wrote in-part on Truth Social. “That sounds fair, doesn’t it? This Judge should be recused, and the case should be thrown out. There has virtually never been a more conflicted judge than this one. ELECTION INTERFERENCE at its worst!”

Trump has a history of targeting the judges that oversee his various legal cases, along with the judge’s children and spouses.

A gag order was also imposed in his civil fraud case last fall that barred Trump and his attorneys from publicly discussing or attacking the trial judge’s court staff.