FILE - Judge Juan M. Merchan poses in his chambers in New York, March 14, 2024. Manhattan prosecutors are urging the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal hush money case to uphold a gag order that bars the Republican former president from criticizing jurors, court staff, or members of the prosecution that convicted him. In court papers filed Friday, prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office argued portions of the gag order remained necessary given Trump’s “singular history of inflammatory and threatening public statements." (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)