Since the first rumors sprang up last month about the Manhattan grand jury circling an indictment vote against former President Donald Trump, there's been a nearly nonstop social media outpour decrying the "witch hunt" led by District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Mostly sticking to his own online platform, Truth Social, Trump has kept up his regular social posts, many of which have been focused on the indictment and arraignment the former president is scheduled to appear at Tuesday.
NBC News reports Trump has called the district attorney an "animal" in one post and, in another, seemingly posted an article wherein Bragg's head was displayed on an image with Trump holding a baseball bat. The post has since been deleted.
Trump, no stranger to speaking his mind, may find himself in additional legal hot water if he makes threats to the district attorney.
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Judge Juan Merchan, who is expected to preside over Trump's case and has not been immune from the defendant's online chatter, could impose a gag order if deemed necessary.
A gag order would restrict Trump, or anyone else under the order, from making public statements about the case. The former president is already scheduled to speak Tuesday night following his appearance in court.
“He’s no different than anyone else,” former assistant DA Robert Gottlieb told NBC News. Even taking into consideration all the political implications of the case, he said Trump does not get "more rights to influence jurors or to threaten or incite violence. In that courtroom, he is only a defendant.”
It's not clear when, or if, a gag order could be put in place. Like the rest of Trump's historic indictment, there is little precedent for what comes next.
Not all of the experts who spoke to NBC News believe one would be issued at Tuesday's arraignment, or at all. Another former assistant DA suggested the judge could stick with a word of warning instead.
If a gag order is decided against, Trump still risks violating other laws if he chooses to keep making public statements about the case, former DA Cy Vance has said.
Donald Trump
“There is a crime. That’s called obstructing governmental administration under New York law,” Vance said on MSNBC's “Inside with Jen Psaki” on Sunday, explaining that it would involve efforts to intimidate a public official.
“[I]f I were Mr. Trump’s lawyer I would tell him to knock it off because it’s not going to help him with the judge and if it is charged, that’s not going to help him with a jury.”
