A judge on Tuesday loosened a gag order on Donald J. Trump in his Manhattan criminal case, allowing the former president to criticize witnesses who took the stand against him as well as others involved in the trial that led to his conviction.
The judge, Juan M. Merchan, who presided over Mr. Trump’s seven-week trial this spring, ruled that Mr. Trump is now free to complain about the prosecution’s witnesses, including his former fixer, Michael D. Cohen. Once Mr. Trump is sentenced on July 11, the judge ruled, he can publicly assail others who are currently covered by the gag order, including prosecutors and their relatives.
Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is still subject to a different order prohibiting him from releasing the identities of jurors, or publicly attacking them by name.
But under Justice Merchan’s ruling, Mr. Trump can now complain broadly about the jury that convicted him. The judge appeared conflicted about his decision involving the jury on Tuesday, writing that “it would be this court’s strong preference to extend those protections,” but he said that he felt the law required him to drop the restrictions.
The unwinding of the order could unleash Mr. Trump’s wrathful rhetoric about the people involved in the case against him just as he prepares to debate President Biden this week.
Justice Merchan imposed the gag order before the trial began, as Mr. Trump berated Mr. Cohen, the prosecutors and the Manhattan jury pool, which leans heavily Democratic. During the trial, Mr. Trump violated the order 10 times, resulting in $10,000 in fines.
In late May, the jury convicted Mr. Trump on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to his cover-up of a sex scandal during his 2016 presidential run. The verdict, the first criminal conviction of an American president, made Mr. Trump a felon.
At the core of the case was a hush-money payment to a porn star, Stormy Daniels. Mr. Cohen paid Ms. Daniels $130,000 to silence her story of a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump, who then falsified the records to conceal his repayment of Mr. Cohen.
After the verdict, Mr. Trump’s lawyers asked Justice Merchan to lift the gag order entirely. Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which brought the case, agreed in a court filing on Friday that the judge could let Mr. Trump criticize witnesses, but argued that the other major restrictions should remain.
The prosecutors cited a wave of threats against the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, and his prosecutors.
The New York Police Department logged 56 “actionable threats” against Mr. Bragg, his family, and employees at the district attorney’s office since early April, according to an affidavit provided with the filing.
Such threats, evidently made by supporters of Mr. Trump, included a post disclosing the address of one of Mr. Bragg’s employees, and bomb threats made on the first day of the trial targeting two people involved in the case.
Others were homicidal messages directed at Mr. Bragg or his employees, including, “We will kill you all,” “You are dead” and “Your life is done.”
Prosecutors said the threats were “directly connected to defendant’s dangerous rhetoric.”
The gag order did not cover Justice Merchan and Mr. Bragg personally, though it did prohibit Mr. Trump from attacking their families. Before the trial, Mr. Trump repeatedly attacked the judge’s daughter, who is a Democratic political consultant.
The former president faces up to four years in prison, though he may never see the inside of a cell. Justice Merchan could sentence him to probation or home confinement.