Donald Trump’s lawyers urge judge to lift order in hush-money case
In a court document filed earlier this week, defense attorneys Todd Blanch and Emil Bove noted that Democratic President Joe Biden’s campaign had referred to Republican nominee Trump as a “convicted criminal” in a May 30 statement.
Donald Trump’s lawyers urged the judge overseeing the hush money trial against him to lift the gag order now that he has been convicted, saying his opponents are using restrictions on the former US president’s speech as a “political sword”.
In a court document filed earlier this week, defense attorneys Todd Blanch and Emil Bove noted that Democratic President Joe Biden’s campaign had referred to Republican nominee Trump as a “convicted criminal” in a May 30 statement.
He said the order could limit Trump’s ability to respond to Biden’s attacks during the presidential debate on June 27—though the order only restricts Trump’s public statements about jurors, witnesses, and other individuals involved in the court proceedings, and does not prevent him from criticizing the case in general.
“Opponents and opponents of President Trump are using the gag order as a political sword to attack President Trump with respect to this matter, understanding that his ability to provide a detailed response is severely restricted,” Bowe and Blanch wrote.
A Manhattan jury on May 30 found Trump, 77, guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment by his former lawyer Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels as she kept silent about a sexual affair she says they had a decade ago before the 2016 election. It was the first criminal trial of any US president, past or present.
Trump has denied having a sexual relationship with Daniels and has vowed to appeal the verdict after his sentencing on July 11.
The judge issued the order before the trial began in April, after prosecutors argued that Trump’s history of making threatening statements showed he could derail the proceedings.
During the trial, Marchen was accused of 10 violations of the gag order. These included a social media post in which he called Cohen a “serial liar” and an interview in which he said, “The jury was selected so quickly — 95% were Democrats.”
Prosecutors in a one-page letter last week urged the judge to continue the gag order at least until sentencing, arguing they were still “obligated to protect the integrity of the proceedings.” They are expected to follow up with a more complete filing in the coming weeks.
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