Former President Trump asked the New York State Supreme Court to intervene in his ongoing fight to overturn the gag order in his hush money criminal trial, a day after an intermediate appellate court upheld the gag order.
Trump’s lawyers filed a notice of appeal Wednesday, but it remained sealed in the court docket as of Thursday morning.
President Trump Press Secretary Stephen Chan told the Associated Press The petition seeks a gag order from the state appellate court.
“President Trump has filed a notice of appeal against the unconstitutional and un-American gag order imposed by his opponent, Judge Juan Machan, in the Manhattan Lawless District Attorney’s Office case,” Chan said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. ” he said.
“The threat to jail the 45th President of the United States and a leading candidate for the 2024 presidential election for exercising his First Amendment rights is typical of the third-world authoritarian tactics,” Chan added in a statement. .
The Hill has requested a statement from Mr. Chan.
On Tuesday, the New York Court of Appeals upheld a gag order against Trump that prohibits him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and Judge Juan Marchan’s family. It does not prevent the former president from attacking Mr. Marchand or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D).
“Judge Marchand properly determined in this case that the appellant’s public statements posed a serious threat to the integrity of the testimony of witnesses and potential witnesses,” Tuesday said. decision from Panel reading by five judges.
Trump repaid Michael Cohen, then Trump’s fixer, for paying porn actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Trump before the 2016 election. He has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with the scheme. President Trump has denied any wrongdoing and maintains his innocence, saying there was no wrongdoing in the payments.
President Trump has slammed the gag order, calling it a violation of his First Amendment rights and claiming that it prevents him from responding to political attacks by prominent witnesses and others.
Ahead of testimony that began Monday, the former president’s lawyers lamented that Cohen had regularly attacked Trump on social media and elsewhere while Trump was barred from responding.
On Friday, Marchand instructed prosecutors to tell Cohen that he should make no further public statements about the case.
Marchan also found that President Trump has violated the gag order 10 times since it was issued and ordered him to pay a $1,000 fine for each violation, with future violations potentially punishable by prison time. he warned.
Ella Lee and Zach Schonfeld contributed.
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