Trump hush money prosecutors open to partial lifting of gag order

New York prosecutors say they are open to a partial lifting of a judge's gag order now that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been convicted on criminal charges stemming from an effort to influence the 2016 election by buying a porn star's silence.

Prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said in a court filing dated Thursday and made public on Friday that they supported allowing him to speak publicly about witnesses in the case.

But they urged Justice Juan Merchan to keep in place restrictions on his comments about jurors, court staff and individual prosecutors, citing risks to their safety.

In the first criminal trial of a U.S. president, a Manhattan jury on May 30 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 before the election with her story of a sexual encounter with Trump.

Trump, elected to a four-year term in 2016, denies the alleged 2006 encounter and has vowed to appeal his conviction. Sentencing is scheduled for July 11, four days before his party convenes to formally nominate him for president ahead of the Nov. 5 election.