Donald Trump’s lawyers ask appeals court to lift gag order in hush criminal money case

By JENNIFER PELTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers are asking a New York appeals court to lift the former president’s gag order just days before the start of his hush-money criminal trial. Trump’s lawyers argue that banning Trump from making public statements about jurors, witnesses and others connected to the case is an unconstitutional prior restraint on his free speech rights while he’s campaigning for president and fighting criminal charges. The state’s mid-level held an emergency hearing Tuesday morning. The trial judge, Juan M. Merchan, issued the gag order last month at the urging of Manhattan prosecutors, who cited Trump’s “long history of making public and inflammatory remarks” about people involved in his legal cases. It’s the second of back-to-back days for Trump’s lawyers in the appeals court.