June 4th 2024.
Donald Trump's legal team has requested the New York judge to remove the gag order that prohibited the former president from speaking about witnesses, jurors, and others involved in the criminal case that resulted in his conviction for falsifying records to conceal a possible sex scandal.
In a letter addressed to Judge Juan M. Merchan on Tuesday, Trump's lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove argued that there is no justification for restricting his First Amendment rights now that the trial has concluded. They stated that Trump has the right to freely express his opinions and engage in campaign advocacy, especially in light of President Joe Biden's public comments on the verdict and continued criticism from his former lawyer Michael Cohen and adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who were key witnesses in the prosecution.
The lawyers also emphasized the need for Trump to be able to fully address the case and his conviction, especially with the first presidential debate approaching on June 27. The Manhattan district attorney's office declined to comment on the matter.
The gag order was initially issued by Judge Merchan on March 26, just a few weeks before the trial began, after concerns were raised by prosecutors about Trump's tendency to attack individuals involved in his cases. It was later expanded to include comments about Trump's own family after he made social media posts attacking the judge's daughter, who is a Democratic political consultant. While comments about Judge Merchan and District Attorney Alvin Bragg are allowed, the gag order prohibits statements about court staff and members of Bragg's prosecution team.
Trump was found guilty on Thursday of 34 counts of falsifying business records in an effort to cover up a payment made to Daniels just before the 2016 election. Daniels claims to have had a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier, which he denies. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11.
Prosecutors had argued for the gag order to "protect the integrity of this criminal proceeding and avoid prejudice to the jury." In his order, Judge Merchan noted that the restrictions were requested "for the duration of the trial" and did not specify when they would be lifted.
Trump's lawyer Blanche told the Associated Press that he believed the gag order would expire after the trial ended and that he would seek clarification from Judge Merchan, which he did on Tuesday. Blanche also stated that the situation was becoming "a bit absurd" as the trial was over and the witnesses were no longer involved.
Despite this, Trump seemed to still believe he was under the gag order when he spoke to reporters at Trump Tower on Friday, saying "I'm under a gag order, a nasty gag order." He also referred to Cohen as "he whose name cannot be mentioned due to the gag order" and referred to him as a "sleazebag."
During the trial, Trump was held in contempt of court and fined $10,000 for violating the gag order. Judge Merchan also warned that he would be jailed if he continued to do so. While Trump's use of the term "sleazebag" to describe Cohen before the trial had angered prosecutors, it was not considered a violation of the gag order by the judge. He also did not impose any sanctions for a social media post on April 10, in which Trump used the same insult to refer to Cohen and Daniels, another key witness in the prosecution.
Judge Merchan explained at the time that Trump's argument that he was responding to previous critical posts by Cohen was enough to give him pause and consider whether the prosecutors had provided sufficient evidence to show that the post was out of bounds.
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