Donald Lukele
Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s lawyers have urged the judge overseeing a financial case involving an adult film star in New York City to lift the order imposed on Trump from discussing the case until its completion.
A letter sent to Judge Juan Merchan on Monday states that the court’s concern “does not justify ongoing restrictions” on Trump’s freedom of speech.
On Thursday, Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to payments to silence a pornographic star with whom he allegedly had a sexual encounter.
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The order was issued on March 26, prohibiting Trump from publicly speaking about witnesses, judges, prosecutors, court personnel, and their families.
Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, wrote in the letter to the judge that Trump should enjoy an “unfettered campaign”.
They argue that his case has been “unfairly amplified” after his political opponent, U.S. President Joe Biden, publicly discussed the case.
They further state that Trump is currently unable to defend against “ongoing public attacks” and prosecution witnesses, such as his former lawyer Michael Cohen and the porn star, Stormy Daniels.
The letter also mentions Trump’s participation in the first presidential debate against Mr. Biden, scheduled for June 27.
Trump will be sentenced by Judge Merchan on July 11, four days before he is officially nominated as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate.
His team has repeatedly requested to lift the order, but those requests have been denied by the judge.
During the trial, Judge Merchan fined Trump $10,000 for violating the order not to discuss the case and threatened imprisonment if he continued to do so.
