(FeaturedNews.com) – According to a Monday filing, former President Donald Trump has requested Judge Juan Merchan lift the gag order placed on him during his hush money trial in New York.
The gag order was imposed on the former President before the trial began and continued throughout, restricting the comments Trump could make on witnesses, court staff, prosecutors, and jurors. The gag order was later extended to include Merchan’s family and the family of the prosecutors.
Trump received a $1,000 fine for every time he infringed on the rules of the gag order, racking up $10,000 in fines during his court case for breaking the gag order on ten occasions.
Later, Merchan threatened Trump with jail time should he flout the order again.
Before Merchan imposed the gag order, Trump had expressed his disdain for the prosecution and potential witnesses — frequently attacking them on Truth Social.
On Thursday, a jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records in an attempt to conceal a sex scandal that had the potential to derail his 2016 Presidential campaign.
On Monday, Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, sent Merchan a letter requesting Merchan “terminate the gag order” that restricts the former President’s “extrajudicial statements.”
Blanche highlighted that since the trial had concluded, the court’s concerns that required implementing a gag order no longer warranted continuing to restrict the former President’s First Amendment rights.
Blanche referenced comments President Joe Biden made after the verdict as a reason to lift the gag order.
On Monday, Biden blasted Trump, stating that with a “convicted felon” seeking the Oval Office, “the campaign entered unchartered territory.”
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