Lawyers for Donald Trump on Monday asked a New York judge overseeing the hush money trial against the former president to lift the gag order against the former president.
Trump’s lawyers asked Judge Juan Merchan to terminate the silence order that restricted Trump’s extrajudicial statements because “the stated bases for the silence order no longer exist.”
“Now that the trial has concluded, the Administration’s and the Court’s concerns do not justify continued restrictions on President Trump’s First Amendment rights,” Trump attorney Todd Blanche wrote in the filing, which was made public Tuesday.
The former president’s lawyers argued that Trump had a “constitutional mandate for unrestrained campaign advocacy,” citing President Joe Biden’s public comments on the jury’s verdict last week, in addition to “sustained public attacks” from Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen and porn actress Stormy Daniels. , both of whom served as key witnesses in the trial. The former president’s lawyers also pointed to the upcoming presidential debate that will take place on June 27.
Trump’s request comes as the Biden campaign has become increasingly vocal about the former president’s legal issues. NBC News was the first to report last week that Biden’s campaign had explored a more aggressive position.
At a campaign event on Monday, Biden called the former president a “convicted felon” who “snapped” after the 2020 election.
If the court does not grant their request, Trump’s team has requested a briefing.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment.
Prosecutors initially sought a partial gag order in February, arguing that the former president had a “long history” of making public and inflammatory comments about those involved in various legal proceedings against him.
In March, Merchan issued a partial gag order ordering the former president to “refrain” from “making or directing others to make public statements regarding known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses regarding their possible participation” in the case , as well as prosecutors, court personnel, jurors, and potential jurors.
The order was later expanded to block Trump from commenting on Merchan’s family and relatives of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg after the former president attacked Merchan’s daughter on social media.
Trump was fined $10,000 at trial for repeatedly violating the gag order.
In his March 26 order, Merchan noted that prosecutors had requested the ban be imposed “for the duration of the trial.” The order did not specify a date when the restrictions would be lifted.
Trump was convicted Thursday of 34 counts of falsifying corporate records related to reimbursing Cohen for hush money paid to Daniels in the final days of the 2016 campaign. Trump had pleaded not guilty in the case and denied Daniels’ claims that she had a sexual encounter with him in 2006. Trump’s sentencing in the case is scheduled for July 11.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
