Donald Trump’s lawyers press judge to lift gag order in wake of ex-president’s felony conviction

By MICHAEL R. SISAK
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers are amplifying their calls to end the gag order that bars the former president from commenting about witnesses, jurors and others tied to the Manhattan criminal trial that ended in his conviction last month for falsifying records to cover up a potential sex scandal. In a court filing made public Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers urged Judge Juan M. Merchan to end what they deemed an “extraordinary, unprecedented, and unwarranted restriction” on the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s free speech rights. The 23-page defense filing reiterated arguments the lawyers made days after Trump’s May 30 guilty verdict in a letter they sent to Merchan seeking to lift the gag order. They contend the restrictions should have been rescinded after the verdict.