Manhattan prosecutors opposed former President Trump’s request to lift a gag order imposed on him now that his criminal trial is over, saying the court has an “obligation to protect the integrity of the trial.”
The former president and presumptive Republican presidential candidate was convicted last week on all 34 counts of first-degree falsifying business records in a six-week trial that stemmed from charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
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Judge Juan Marchan issued a gag order to Trump before the trial began, barring him from making any public comments or directing others to speak about the potential involvement of witnesses or any attorneys in the case other than Bragg, or about court officials, district attorney’s office employees or their family members.
Former President Trump (right) leaves Trump Tower in New York City on Monday, April 15, 2024. Jury selection begins this morning in Manhattan Criminal Court in the so-called hush money trial, Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo speaks in a Department of Justice video. (Fox News Digital/DOJ)
Trump’s team repeatedly challenged the order but was turned down.
Trump lawyer Todd Branche sent a letter to Marchant on Tuesday afternoon, again asking for the order to be lifted, citing the 2024 presidential election, the first debate with President Biden on June 27, and the First Amendment rights of the former president and his supporters.
But Manhattan prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, on behalf of Bragg, sent a letter to Marchan opposing Trump’s request.
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“The People oppose the immediate termination of the Order and support the Defendants’ proposed further argument. We request that the Court adopt the same argument schedule it has set for all other post-trial motions: Defendants’ motions by June 13th and the People’s response by June 27th,” he wrote.
Colangelo said Trump’s request “argues that the basis for the Supreme Court’s order no longer exists because ‘the case is over.'”
“But the Court’s order was based not only on the need to avoid a threat to the fairness of the trial itself – see page 3 of the 26 March order – but also on the Court’s broader “obligation to prevent actual harm to the fairness of the proceedings”, to protect the “orderly conduct” of this Court and to avoid “risks”.[s] “To the administration of justice”
Judge Juan Marchan watches as Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump attends his criminal trial on charges he falsified business records to hide money paid to silence porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016, in state court in Manhattan, New York City, on May 30, 2024. In this courtroom sketch, (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
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Colangelo said their interests “have not been diminished and the court has an obligation to protect the integrity of these proceedings and the fair administration of justice, at least through the sentencing hearing and the resolution of post-trial motions.”
“The public opposition will debate whether it would be appropriate to adjust parts of the court’s order in light of the trial’s conclusions, and if so, what that might be,” he wrote.
Trump was fined $10,000 during his trial for violating the censorship, and Marchant also threatened to imprison him for any further violations.
“I don’t want to go to jail,” Marchand said. “You’re [the] Former president and possibly the next president.”
Former President Trump arrived at Trump Tower on Thursday, May 30, 2024, after being convicted of 34 counts of first-degree falsifying business records. (Felipe Ramares for Fox News Digital)
“I understand the seriousness of this sentence,” Marchan said. “Your continued and willful violations of the court’s orders … amount to a direct attack … and cannot be allowed to continue any further … It cannot be allowed to continue any further.”
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Trump and his lawyers argue that the former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee should not be bound by the gag order, which they say violates the First Amendment rights of not only Trump but also his supporters.
Trump’s sentencing is scheduled for July 11, just four days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he is expected to be formally nominated as the GOP’s 2024 presidential candidate.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
