New York prosecutors say Trump should remain gagged through July sentencing
By
Kaelan Deese
June 5, 2024 11:33 am
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Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg‘s office said Donald Trump should remain gagged while he awaits his sentencing in July, possibly placing the former president in a bind as he prepares to debate President Joe Biden in late June.
Matthew Colangelo, a prosecutor for Bragg who left a high-ranking position in the Biden Justice Department in 2022, wrote a letter to Judge Juan Merchan asking for the order restricting Trump’s speech to remain in place through a July 11 sentencing hearing and through additional post-trial motions. Trump on Tuesday asked the judge to remove the gag order just days after he was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in New York.
“The People oppose any immediate termination of the Orders and agree with defendant’s proposal for further briefing. We request that the Court adopt the same briefing schedule that the Court set for all other post-trial motions, with defendant’s motion due on June 13 and the People’s response due by June 27,” Colangelo wrote in his letter.
Trump has been under a gag order since April that bars him from making comments about the jury that presided over the weekslong trial as well as specific witnesses in the case, family members of prosecutors, and the daughter of Merchan due to Trump’s past comments about her work for Democrats who have championed the case against the former president. Trump and his allies raised awareness about her advocacy work in an effort to call on Merchan to recuse from the case.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche argued Tuesday that the gag order should be lifted in response to the Biden campaign using Trump’s guilty verdict as a platform to discourage voters from choosing Trump as the next president.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/3028800/new-york-prosecutors-trump-should-remain-gagged/
