New York appeals court won't lift Trump gag order pending hush-money sentence

MANHATTAN (CN) — A New York appeals court on Thursday declined to end former President Donald Trump’s gag order in his hush-money criminal case, continuing narrow restrictions his public statements two months after his conviction.

The former president succeeded in getting some aspects of the gag order lifted in June, including stipulations against comments on witnesses and the jury. But the trial judge, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, kept restrictions in place that bar Trump from commenting on the prosecutors and their families — at least until his sentencing, which has been delayed to Sept. 18.

New York’s Appellate Division, First Department, ruled Thursday that Merchan was right to do so.

In its three-page order the appellate court cited “significant and imminent” threats received by the Manhattan district attorney’s office since the May 30 verdict.

The panel of five judges wasn’t convinced by Trump’s argument that the order should be lifted since the trial has concluded and agreed Trump should have his speech narrowly limited until his fall sentencing. “The fair administration of justice necessarily includes sentencing, which is a ‘critical stage of the criminal proceeding,” the judges wrote.

Trump, the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidency, has claimed that the gag order is preventing him from effectively campaigning. His attorney Todd Blanche didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.

Merchan imposed the gag order in late March after prosecutors aired concerns about Trump’s history of attacking witnesses and lawyers in the cases against him. The trial started the following month, where Trump would violate the gag order ten times, be fined a total of $10,000 and eventually threatened with prison time for his repeated breaches of the court’s order.

“As much as I do not want to impose a jail sanction … I want you to understand that I will, if necessary and appropriate,” Merchan wrote in one scathing order against Trump.

Merchan also expanded the gag order to cover his own family after Trump repeatedly attacked his daughter, a political consultant who has worked with Democrats.

Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records, stemming from a scheme during his 2016 presidential run to cover up a past tryst with adult film star Stormy Daniels. Daniels testified at trial that she had sex with Trump in 2006, which the former president denies.

Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, told the jury that he paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about the sexual encounter. When Trump repaid Cohen for the hush money, he illegally disguised checks, ledger entries and invoices as payments for standard legal fees.

Trump is no stranger to being gagged. He faced a similar order from New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron in his civil fraud trial last year after he repeatedly harassed the judge’s chief law clerk. Trump also violated that gag order several times and was fined a total of $15,000 in that trial.

The first president in American history to be convicted of a felony, Trump could face jail time come his September sentencing. In New York State, falsifying business records carries a sentencing range of 16 months to four years.

Trump maintains his innocence and has indicated that he will appeal his conviction after sentencing.

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