Olivia Asher is a reporter at the New Herald Tribune covering breaking news for the Digital Trends Desk. Before joining the newsroom in 2022, she covered criminal justice issues at the Orlando Plain Dealer.
May 28 , 2024
NEW YORK - A federal judge has issued a gag order prohibiting actor Robert De Niro from publicly discussing the high-profile criminal trial of former President Donald Trump over alleged hush-money payments.
The surprise ruling by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan came after prosecutors raised concerns that comments made by De Niro could risk tainting the jury pool and jeopardize Trump's right to an impartial trial. The judge did not provide detailed reasons for the gag order in his terse two-page ruling.
De Niro, a longtime critic of the former president, had been an outspoken voice demanding accountability for Trump over the charges that he orchestrated illegal hush-money payments to a porn star prior to the 2016 election. The actor had given multiple interviews condemning Trump's alleged actions as "disgraceful" and "unbecoming of a president."
The gag order prevents the 79-year-old Oscar winner from making any further public statements about the case outside of the courtroom. Legal experts say violations could open De Niro up to contempt of court charges.
"While I strongly disagree with this ruling against my client's First Amendment rights, we will respect the court's decision," said De Niro's attorney, Tom Mesereau. "Mr. De Niro will refrain from commenting on this matter until the trial concludes.”
The hush-money case represents one of the most significant legal threats for the former president, who is also facing multiple other criminal investigations related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and his handling of classified documents after leaving office.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in what prosecutors allege was a scheme to undermine the 2016 presidential election by burying allegations of extramarital sexual encounters.
If convicted, the 76-year-old Republican could face up to four years in prison on each falsifying business records count, though he would be unlikely to receive the maximum sentence with no criminal record.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and decried the charges as a politically motivated "witch hunt" by the Democratic prosecutor.
With the gag order now in place, De Niro's voice will be notably absent from the intense media scrutiny and public discourse surrounding the historic trial of the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges.
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