NEW YORK — Prosecutors in Manhattan are urging the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal hush-money case to enforce a gag order banning the former president from criticizing jurors, court staff or members of the prosecution who convicted him.
They agreed that one provision of the gag order, which prevented Trump from attacking witnesses in the case, could be lifted.
In court papers filed Friday, prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s office argued that parts of the gag order remained necessary given Trump’s “particular history of inflammatory and threatening public statements” and his supporters’ efforts to “identify jurors and threatening violence against Trump.” it.”
“Since the verdict in this case, the defendant has not exempted jurors from his alarmist rhetoric that he would have ‘every right’ as president to seek retaliation against the participants in this trial as a result of his conviction because ‘sometimes revenge is justified could be’. “, the file said.
The silence order, issued in March, banned Trump from making public statements or directing others to make public statements about witnesses, jurors and others involved in the case. It does not limit comments about the judge, Juan M. Merchan, or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office prosecuted the case.
Lawyers for Trump called on the judge to revoke the order after the culmination of his trial last month, which ended in his conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying records to cover up a possible sex scandal. Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing, is expected to take place on July 11.
Defense lawyers argue that Trump should be free to fully address the case as he campaigns for the White House, citing President Joe Biden’s comments and continued public criticism of him by his ex-lawyer. Michael Cohen and the porn actor Stormy Danielsboth important witnesses for the prosecution.
“Now that the trial has concluded, the administration’s and the Court’s concerns do not justify continued restrictions on Trump’s First Amendment rights,” they wrote earlier this month.
In their letter, prosecutors agreed that the provision prohibiting statements about witnesses in court should no longer be retained. They said restrictions on statements about prosecutors in the case — with the exception of Bragg — and about judicial staff and their family members should remain in place.
Merchan is expected to issue a ruling soon, possibly before Trump’s June 27 debate with President Joe Biden.
Earlier this week, the New York Supreme Court ruled refused to hear Donald Trump’s call about the silence order and notes that it does not raise any ‘substantial’ constitutional issues that justify immediate intervention.
