New York –

Donald Trump asked a New York appeals court on Tuesday to postpone his April 15 trial on criminal charges over hush money payments to porn stars while the former US president appeals a gag order in the case.

Lawyers for the Republican presidential candidate said during a hearing before the Intermediate Court of Appeals (Appellate Division) that Judge Juan Merchan’s order limiting his public comments should be modified so that he can respond to potential witnesses in the case. public criticism.

“The First Amendment harm caused by this current gag order is irreparable,” Trump’s lawyer Emile Bove said at the hearing.

Merchin last month ordered a ban on potential witnesses, court staff and individual prosecutors after finding that Trump had made what judges called “threatening, inflammatory” and “defamatory” comments in multiple legal cases. The officer made a verbal attack.

The judge expanded the order to include relatives of Merchin and those of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg after Trump disparaged Murchin’s daughter online.

The order does not limit Trump’s remarks about Merchin or Bragg.

Steven Wu, a lawyer in Bragg’s office, told the appeals court hearing that the trial should not be delayed because Trump’s lawyers could have filed an appeal earlier.

He also said his office had to increase security because of Trump’s comments and that potential witnesses were reluctant to testify because of Trump’s comments.

“They know the consequences that could come from having their names in the media,” Wu said. “This is a pattern of inappropriate behavior that has foreseeable and dire consequences.”

Associate Judge Cynthia Cohen, who heard arguments, said she would rule later Tuesday on Trump’s request to halt proceedings in the case. A full panel of appeals judges will then hear his lawyers’ potential challenge to the gag order.

Trump is accused of covering up a $130,000 payment by his former lawyer Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her keeping silent about a sexual encounter with Trump a decade ago before the 2016 presidential election .

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records and has denied having any such contact with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

On Monday, Trump tried but failed to delay the trial as he tried to move the case out of Democratic-dominated Manhattan. His lawyers said a survey of Manhattan residents they conducted showed that 61% of respondents believed Trump was guilty and 70% had an unfavorable view of him.

The hush money case is one of four criminal prosecutions Trump faces as he challenges Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 5 U.S. election rematch.

Other charges stem from his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden and his handling of sensitive government documents after he leaves office in 2021. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.