US judge eases Donald Trump gag order over hush money trial

Republican presidential candidate will be sentenced on July 11 after being convicted on 34 counts

Republican presidential candidate and former US president Donald Trump holds a press conference after being convicted of falsifying business records to conceal an alleged encounter with adult film actShow more

A New York judge has partially lifted a gag order imposed on Donald Trump during his trial for falsifying business records in a bid to cover up a sex scandal ahead of his successful presidential bid in 2016.

The ruling by Judge Juan Merchan allows Trump to comment publicly about witnesses and jurors in the hush money criminal trial that led to his conviction on May 30 but keeps others connected to the case off-limits until his sentencing on July 11.

A separate order barring Trump or lawyers from either side from identifying members of the anonymous jury remains in effect, according to the five-page ruling issued on Tuesday.

Prosecutors said last week that Trump supporters had attempted to identify jurors and threatened violence against them.

“There is ample evidence to justify continued concern for the jurors,” the judge wrote.

The partial lifting of the gag order came days before Trump’s first public debate with President Joe Biden on Thursday in the run-up to the presidential election in November.

In the first criminal trial of a US president, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of covering up his former lawyer Michael Cohen's $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who was threatening to go public about an alleged sexual encounter with the billionaire businessman in 2006.

Trump denies the encounter took place and has vowed to appeal his conviction. His sentencing is scheduled four days before his Republican party convenes to formally nominate him as its presidential candidate.

His campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said Trump’s lawyers would appeal against Tuesday’s ruling, which he described as “another unlawful decision by a highly conflicted judge”.

Trump faces up to four years in prison after being found guilty on 34 counts in the hush money trial, although prosecutors have not said if they would seek detention for the former president. Other options include a fine or probation.

With reporting from agencies