Former President Donald Trump is demanding that Judge Juan Merchan terminate the gag order in his criminal hush money trials on the heels of his historic conviction, according to a new report.
CNN's Kara Scannell reports that Trump's attorneys argued in a letter delivered Monday, and made public Tuesday, that there was no longer any need to protect the jury from prejudice.
"The argument to lift the gag order is 'even stronger' since President Joe Biden has publicly commented on the verdict, certain witnesses have commented and the presidential debate is scheduled for later this month," the letter reportedly states.
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“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 president election – and the American people,” stated Trump's attorneys.
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Trump played fast and loose with the gag order constantly throughout the trial, — which prohibited him from publicly attacking jurors, witnesses, and certain officers of the court and their families — though he was still free to criticize Merchan, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and the case itself.
Merchan fined him for contempt of court after he would not stop attacking witnesses, and threatened him with jail time if he continued.
Even as this was going on, Republican allies of Trump came to Manhattan to attack the people protected by the gag order themselves.
This comes as Trump, who was also subject to gag orders in some of his civil cases, is also being threatened with a gag order by special counsel Jack Smith, over his promotion of conspiracy theories that the FBI agents who searched his Mar-a-Lago resort in the classified documents investigation were part of a plot to assassinate him.
Judge Aileen Cannon, however, appears to be slow-walking Smith's request to issue such an order.
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- 'Reprehensible': Hush money prosecutor demands stricter gag order against Trump
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