Prosecutors want Donald Trump to remain in silence at least until his sentencing on July 11.

NEW YORK — Manhattan prosecutors urged a judge Wednesday to uphold Donald Trump's silence order in his hush money criminal case at least until the former president is sentenced in July, objecting to a defense request to have the restrictions lifted following his felony convictions. last week.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo told Judge Juan M. Merchan in a letter that the Manhattan district attorney's office opposed any immediate lifting of the gag order, which bars Trump from commenting on witnesses, jurors and others people connected to the case – but not the judge himself.

The court “has an obligation to protect the integrity of these proceedings and the fair administration of justice at least during the sentencing hearing and the resolution of any post-trial motions,” Colangelo wrote.

On Tuesday, Trump's lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, had asked Merchan to end the silence, arguing that there was no justification for “continuing restrictions on President Trump's First Amendment rights” now that the trial is over.

In issuing the silence order in March, Merchan noted that prosecutors had requested it “throughout the duration of the trial.” Colangelo argued, however, that the order was “based not only on the need to avoid threats to the fairness of the trial itself” but also on “the judge's obligation to prevent actual harm to the trial.” 'integrity' of the case.

Colangelo said prosecutors favor having both sides submit written arguments to the court on the silence issue in the coming weeks — a step that, if Merchan agrees, would keep the restrictions in place at least until at the end of the month.

A message seeking comment was left for Blanche.

Trump was convicted last Thursday of 34 counts of falsifying business records stemming from what prosecutors said was an attempt to conceal a hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels just before the presidential election in 2016. She claims to have had a sexual relationship with Trump a decade earlier, which he denies.

Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11. His conviction carries a sentence of up to four years in prison, but prosecutors have not said whether they would seek incarceration and it is unclear whether Merchan would impose such a sentence. Other options include a fine or probation.

Blanche and Bove argued in their Tuesday letter that Trump was entitled to “no-holds-barred campaign advocacy” in light of President Joe Biden's public comments on last Friday's verdict and continued public criticism of Trump by his ex- attorney Michael Cohen and Daniels, both key. prosecution witnesses.

Trump's lawyers also say the silence must be removed so that he is free to fully address the matter and his conviction during the first presidential debate scheduled for June 27.

Merchan silenced Trump on March 26, weeks before the trial began, after prosecutors raised concerns about the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's propensity to assault people involved in his affairs.

Mercan later expanded it to ban comments about his own family after Trump made social media posts attacking the judge's daughter, a Democratic political consultant. Comments about Merchan and District Attorney Alvin Bragg are permitted, but the silence order prohibits statements about court staff and members of Bragg's prosecution team.

Trump continued to operate somewhat under the notion that he was still muzzled, telling reporters Friday at Trump Tower: “I'm under a gag order, a nasty gag order.” »

Referring to Cohen, Trump said, “I'm not allowed to use his name because of the gag order” before calling his lawyer-turned-courtroom-enemy “sleazy.”

During the trial, Merchan held Trump in contempt of court, fined him $10,000 for violating the silence order, and threatened to put him in jail if he did it again.

Trump's use of the term “sleazebag” to describe Cohen just before the trial outraged prosecutors, but was not considered a violation of the silence order by the judge. Merchan refused to sanction Trump for an April 10 social media post that referred to Cohen and Daniels with that slur.

The judge said at the time that Trump's assertion that he was responding to Cohen's previous messages that criticized him “is enough to give him pause” about whether prosecutors have met their burden of showing that the message was out of bounds.