When former President Donald Trump debates President Joe Biden later this month, he wants to make sure nothing impedes his pitch for president.
That’s one reason his lawyers gave in a letter to New York County Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan. They claimed that now a verdict had been given, he should be allowed to speak freely, the HuffPost reported.
Trump’s lawyers claim that a continuation of the gag order impact the “constitutional mandate for unrestrained campaign advocacy” Trump should be allowed.
Trump, who was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records, is the presumptive GOP nominee for president.
He is set to debate Biden June 27. His sentencing is scheduled for July 11.
His lawyers claim Biden has spoken about the jury’s verdict and has criticized Trump for saying it was a “rigged, disgraceful trial.”
The gag order forbids Trump from making any public comments about the jurors, lawyers or potential witnesses in the case. The order later included the families of Merchan and prosecutor and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Trump was fined a total of $10,000 after Merchan found him in contempt of the gag order. He was also warned of possible jail time if the violations continued.
Merchan issued the gag order after he found Trump was making “threatening, inflammatory, denigrating” comments about people a part of the case.
Trump has been vocal in his dislike of the gag order by complaining about it at his campaign rallies, stating he’s been “unconstitutionally gagged.”
“He gagged me, so I’m not even supposed to be talking to you ― because he gagged me!” Trump said at a rally last month.
