Lawyers for former US President Donald Trump have asked the judge overseeing his hush-money case in New York to lift the gag order now that the trial has concluded.
In a letter sent to Justice Juan Merchan on Monday, Trump’s legal team argued that the court’s concerns “do not justify continued restrictions” on the former president’s free speech rights. The prosecution, however, is pressing the judge to keep the order in place, “at least through the sentencing hearing.”
The gag order was issued on March 26th, banning Trump from speaking publicly about witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff, and their family members. He remains free to criticize Justice Merchan and District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case against him.
Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, wrote that the former president should enjoy “unrestrained campaign advocacy,” stating that his case is “made even stronger” after his political opponent, President Joe Biden, spoke publicly about the matter.
The letter also cited Trump’s upcoming participation in the first presidential debate against Biden, scheduled for June 27th. The former president is set to be sentenced by Judge Merchan on July 11th, just four days before he is expected to be officially declared the Republican party’s presidential nominee.
Prosecutors have argued that the gag order was necessary “to protect the integrity of this criminal proceeding and avoid prejudice to the jury.” They have indicated they will submit a more detailed response once Trump files a formal motion to lift the restriction.
Throughout the trial, Judge Merchan had repeatedly denied Trump’s team’s requests to lift the gag order, fining the former president $10,000 for violating the order and threatening jail time if the violations continued.
