Donald Trump’s attorneys have asked Judge Juan Merchan to lift the gag order on their client, arguing that it’s unnecessary since Trump has now been convicted for falsifying business records to help his 2016 presidential campaign.
“Now that the trial is concluded, the concerns articulated by the government and the Court do not justify continued restrictions on the First Amendment rights of President Trump – who remains the leading candidate in the 2024 presidential election – and the American people,” Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote Monday.
The pair further argued that President Joe Biden’s brief public comments about the case after the verdict and an event with Biden surrogates outside the courthouse during closing arguments require the gag order to be lifted. They also claimed that the upcoming CNN debate between Trump and his successor is grounds for the gag order’s removal, as are post-verdict public comments by Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels.
The gag order prohibits Trump from discussing witnesses, jurors, court staff, prosecutors, and family members of each, as well as those of Merchan. Trump violated the gag order ten times throughout the trial.
When establishing an updated version of the gag order after Trump attacked Merchan’s daughter, the judge cited the “imminency of the risk of harm.”
“The average observer, must now, after hearing defendant’s recent attacks, draw the conclusion that if they become involved in these proceedings, even tangentially, they should worry not only for themselves, but for their loved ones as well,” he explained. “Such concerns will undoubtedly interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitutes a direct attack on the Rule of Law itself.”
When prosecutors initially requested a gag order, they cited Trump’s rhetoric as having routinely inspired harassment and threats by his supporters. Since the unanimous guilty verdict, his supporters indeed have been threatening Merchan, prosecutors, and jurors in the trial, NBC News reported.
Trump is scheduled to be sentenced July 11. In making his sentencing determination, Merchan is able to consider Trump’s several gag order violations and other inflammatory comments, including how he repeatedly called the judge “conflicted” and even suggested he was biased against him because of his country of birth, Colombia.
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