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President Donald Trump again called for New York Judge Juan Merchan to drop a gag order against him following last week’s presidential debate.
Trump took to Truth Social to make his plea once again ahead of the July 11 sentencing in his New York case. A jury found Trump guilty in all 34 counts in the case.
“Judge Merchan must drop the Gag Order. I have sooo much to say, and I am not allowed to say it!!! What is going on in our Country???” he wrote.
The gag order prohibits Trump from speaking about witnesses, jurors, the judge, or their family members. Trump has already been fined $10,000 in violations and was threatened with jail time for violating the gag order during his New York trial.
Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove asked Merchan last month to end the gag order, arguing against “continued restrictions on the First Amendment rights of President Trump” now that the trial is over.
Merchan lifted parts of the gag order in May that blocked Trump from making public statements about witnesses or jurors. Other parts of the order remain in place until after the July 11 sentencing.
“This is another unlawful decision by a highly conflicted judge, which is blatantly un-American as it gags President Trump, the leading candidate in the 2024 Presidential Election during the upcoming Presidential Debate on Thursday,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told CBS News at the time.
In addition to the ongoing concerns related to the gag order, Trump faces sentencing in the case just days ahead of the July Republican National Convention. Potential sentencing could include jail time, though many expect him to remain free during the likely appeal process that would stretch into next year.
Both Democrats and Republicans have expressed that jailing Trump would likely increase his chances of winning the presidential election in November.
“If President Trump cannot attend the convention in Milwaukee physically because they’re following through with this sham trial, the Democrat Party is going to be electing Donald J. Trump as the 47th president,” Rep. Derrick Van Order, R-Wis., stated in a recent interview.
“What the Democrats didn’t seem to figure out is that they have actually peeled the scales off of Saul’s eyes on the road to Damascus and people are like, ‘Holy beans, I don’t want to live in a country where this can happen,’” he added.
