Trump barred from posting on social media about evidence in Stormy Daniels hush money case

The former president has pleaded not guilty in the hush money case

A New York judge presiding over the hush money prosecution against Donald Trump ruled on Monday that the former president can’t post certain information about the evidence and witnesses involved in the case on social media.

Judge Juan Merchan held that Mr Trump “shall not copy, disseminate or disclose” sensitive materials shared with his legal team from the prosecution “without prior approval from the court,” including putting information on social media, according to NBC News.

The former president, according to the order, can only view “Limited Dissemination Materials" from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in the presence of his lawyers, and "shall not be permitted to copy, photograph, transcribe, or otherwise independently possess the Limited Dissemination Materials,” the network reports.

In April, the former president was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, related to alleged attempts to pay two women hush money to stop them from coming forward during the 2016 presidential campaign about their alleged affairs with Mr Trump.

One of the payments involved Mr Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen paying adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 12 days before the election.

Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty.

This isn’t the first time the former president’s prolific social media habits have come up in the case.

In April, Judge Merchan warned Mr Trump to “refrain” from any posts that would incite violence, after the former president shared images on Truth Social showing him with a baseball bat next to Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.

The Independent has contacted Mr Trump’s attorneys for comment.

“Donald J Trump has a longstanding and perhaps singular history of attacking witnesses, investigators, prosecutors, trial jurors, grand jurors, judges, and others involved in legal proceedings against him, putting those individuals and their families at considerable safety risk,” prosecutors argued in a court filing in April.

Trump attorney Joseph Tacopina previously called prosecutors’ request for an official protective order around the case an “extreme” step, according to Insider.

The publication has previously reported that some of the evidence that could be shared with the public, now covered under the protective order, includes photos of the inside of witness Michael Cohen’s home.