The Daily Fuckup

Donald Trump’s legal team was still pressing to narrow or lift the gag order in the New York hush-money case as of June 7, while prosecutors were asking the judge to keep the limits in place through sentencing and post-trial motions. The issue was not whether Trump had been convicted. It was whether the court would continue restricting what he could say about people connected to the case while the criminal process was still active.

The dispute grew out of earlier rulings by Judge Juan M. Merchan, who imposed the gag order after finding that Trump’s public attacks on witnesses, jurors, court staff and others tied to the case created a real risk of disruption. In the June 5 filing, prosecutors said the same concerns still applied and argued that the order should remain in force at least until sentencing. Trump’s lawyers said the restriction was too broad and improperly limited his speech.

As of June 7, that was still a live motion, not a finished ruling. The judge had not yet decided whether the order would stay unchanged, be narrowed, or be lifted for the post-verdict phase. That timing matters: the legal fight was unfolding while the case was moving toward sentencing, with both sides trying to control what happens outside the courtroom before the next hearing.

The practical stakes are straightforward. If the order stays in place, Trump remains under limits on what he can say about certain people tied to the case. If it changes, the defense gets more room to attack the proceedings publicly, and prosecutors lose a layer of protection they say is still needed. Either way, the June 7 dispute showed that the case was not simply shifting into a quiet sentencing phase. It was still producing fresh filings, fresh arguments and one more decision for the judge to make.