Trump Asks Judge to Lift N.Y. Gag Order Following Conviction – The New York Times
Trump Hush-Money Trial
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Citing statements by Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, and an upcoming presidential debate, Donald J. Trump’s lawyers asked a judge to lift the order.
Jonah E. Bromwich and
Donald J. Trump’s lawyers on Tuesday asked the judge who oversaw the former president’s criminal trial to lift a gag order on their client as the presidential campaign intensifies.
The lawyers said in a letter to the judge, Juan M. Merchan, that the end of the trial on Thursday nullified the need for the gag order, which bars the former president from attacking witnesses, the jury and others involved in the case.
Mr. Trump was convicted of 34 felonies, with a jury determining that he had falsified documents related to a hush-money payment his former fixer made to a porn star in 2016.
“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,” the lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, wrote in the letter.
The jury found that Mr. Trump had falsified the documents to conceal an unlawful conspiracy to aid his 2016 presidential campaign by suppressing potentially damaging information. Mr. Trump is scheduled to be sentenced in July and faces up to four years in prison.
A spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which brought the case against Mr. Trump, declined to comment on the defense’s request.
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