Judge lets people suing Trump keep their names off lawsuit
NEW YORK — A federal judge, saying President Donald Trump has used his “position and platform” in unprecedented fashion to affect court cases, temporarily agreed Thursday to protect the identities of four plaintiffs in a lawsuit because they fear retaliation by the president or his followers.
U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield ruled in a case involving people who lost money in a marketing company Trump endorsed in speeches and on “The Celebrity Apprentice.”
She said their identities can remain secret at least while lawyers for Trump, his business and his three eldest children seek to dismiss the case in its early stages.
In court papers, attorneys for the plaintiffs said releasing their identities would expose them to “crushing mental, economic and professional harm.”