New York appeals court upholds gag order in Trump hush money case

The New York Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld a gag order against former President Trump in a hush money criminal case.

The order, imposed on Mr. Trump by Judge Juan Merchan, prohibits him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff or judges’ families. That doesn’t prevent him from attacking Marchand or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D).

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.

“Judge Marchand appropriately determined in this case that appellant’s public statements posed a serious threat to the integrity of the testimony of witnesses and potential witnesses.” decision Here’s what the five-member panel of judges wrote:

In its ruling, the committee compared Marchand’s gag order to one imposed in President Trump’s federal election interference case. New York judges agreed with the District of Columbia Circuit’s decision to keep President Trump’s gag in place.

“Given these concerns, the Circuit Court ultimately concluded that, given the record, the court was not responsible for “creating an atmosphere of fear or intimidation intended to prevent trial participants or staff from performing their duties within the trial.” “We have a duty to act affirmatively to prevent this process,” the five-judge panel wrote. “This court adopts the reasoning of the circuit court’s federal restraining order decision.”

Trump has opened business records over his plan to repay his then-fixer Michael Cohen, who paid porn actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump. He has been charged with 34 counts of falsification. Trump has maintained his innocence and said the record is true.

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 Trump had violated the gag order 10 times since it was issued and ordered him to pay a $1,000 fine for each post, with future violations potentially punishable by prison time. he warned.