“The defense does not concede that there was ever a valid basis for the gag order and reserves the right to challenge the irreparable First Amendment harms caused by the order,” Blanche clarified in a footnote.
Justice Merchan issued several orders during the trial that prohibited Trump from making statements outside of court about the jury, witnesses, prosecutors, and family members of the justice and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the charges. The judge also held Trump in contempt for violating the orders in 10 different statements, explicitly threatening to send Trump to jail if he violated the gag orders again.
Trump said on Friday that he is still subject to the orders, and Blanche said that same day that he intended to ask the judge to clarify whether the orders were still in effect.
Following the guilty verdict, experts told Law360 that the orders were probably no longer a factor because their main purpose — protecting the integrity of the trial proceedings — no longer exists.
