The Manhattan District Attorney’s request to gag former President Donald Trump ahead of his impending criminal trial would constitute unlawful prior restraint of his free speech rights, his lawyers argued in new court papers.

“The First Amendment under the State and federal Constitutions requires that President Trump’s ability to respond to public attacks relating to this case, as he continues his leading campaign for the Presidency, be afforded the highest level of constitutional protections,” Trump’s defense team stated in a Monday motion.