Manhattan DA Moves To Stop Trump From Looking at Trial Documents Without Supervision

Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg has requested that the judge in Donald Trump’s criminal trial prevent the former president from reviewing case documents without his lawyers present. This comes after investigations into Trump’s handling of classified documents, which has raised concerns about his potential misuse of grand jury and other sensitive materials in this case. The request also calls for Trump to be banned from publicizing the prosecution’s evidence. The New York Times reported that Trump’s lawyers are expected to challenge this request, and the decision will ultimately fall to Judge Juan Merchan.

Trump is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to payments made to former lawyer Michael Cohen, who allegedly used the money to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels. Catherine McCaw, assistant district attorney, argued that Trump should be limited in accessing case filings due to the investigation into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago during a raid by the Biden Justice Department in August 2022.

McCaw has requested that certain materials only be reviewed with lawyers present, and that Trump and anyone else who received the case materials be blocked from disseminating them to news or social media platforms. She also stated that there is a smaller subset of materials that should be kept in the “exclusive control” of Trump’s lawyers, and that he should be barred from reviewing that material without them present. However, she did not elaborate on what that material is expected to include.

Last week, a federal judge denied Bragg’s attempt to stop a House GOP investigation into the charges and case. Bragg sought to prevent Republican Jim Jordan from subpoenaing one of his former employees. Meanwhile, Bragg is facing criticism from Manhattan residents over his handling of rising violent crime. House Republicans held a hearing last week in New York City where victims shared their stories, including a former bodega owner who killed a criminal in self-defense and was subsequently charged by Bragg for murder.